Finns recover forestry confidence

Finns’ confidence that their forestry industry is emerging from the downturn is growing, according to a new poll. It also found low levels of trust in the environmental groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth on forestry issues.

The survey was undertaken by independent market researchers commissioned by the Finnish Forest Association and contrasted strongly with the last poll in 2009. This showed that confidence in the sector’s international competitiveness had slipped from 76% in 2007 to just 61%.

The latest result however, found confidence had recovered to the 2007 level.

The survey also revealed a downturn in levels of public trust in the industry on general forestry issues, and a decline in the percentage of people who had faith in its information on biodiversity from 60% in 2009 to 51%. However, in terms of environmental groups, greatest store was set by information from the Finnish Association of Nature Conservation. The WWF was the second most trusted green organisation, with Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth rated least trustworthy.

Nearly 90% of respondents thought that management of Finnish forests was good.

On the topic of biofuel, 72% of those polled thought the use of wood residues to generate energy should increase.