Finland, Canadian province sign co-op deal in forest sector

Finland and the province of Nova Scotia in Canada on Friday signed an action plan on closer cooperation in forests and the bioeconomy sectors, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in a press release.

The parties to the five-year action plan are the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and the Department of Natural Resources of Nova Scotia.

There is a long tradition of forest sector cooperation between Canada and Finland and the forest sectors of the province of Nova Scotia and Finland share many similarities.

What Finland has to offer is expertise that supports the efforts to improve the efficiency of forest and bioeconomy sectors and to promote the clean transition. The areas for cooperation include forest management practices, digital solutions for the forest sector, forest technologies and education.

Cooperation is also sought for the industry and research. The action plan will improve the conditions for commercial cooperation as the forest and bioeconomy sector of Nova Scotia offer promising opportunities for Finnish companies.

Forest-based bioeconomy is a central theme of the action plan signed on Friday. New wood-based products have been developed in the past few years, some of them based on new production technologies and some on more efficient utilisation of materials such as forest industry side streams. In the cooperation between Finland and Nova Scotia the aim is also to increase contacts between the research, development and education sectors of the two countries.

“Canada is an important strategic, northern and like-minded partner for Finland. I am very happy that cooperation between Finland and Nova Scotia will become even stronger, thanks to the action plan we have signed today,” said Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah.

Nova Scotia warmly welcomes the increased cooperation. On behalf of Nova Scotia, the action plan was signed by Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions of Nova Scotia.

“We are transforming how we do forestry in Nova Scotia and there is much we can learn from our colleagues in Finland to help reach climate change goals and grow our green economies,” said Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions, on behalf of Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables.