European Forestry Pulse #131 🌲

Hello,

This week a Dutch pension fund put money behind a way of managing forests. Not only behind land.

In Finland, wood buyers paused deliveries while they check where wood was cut.

Here's what's moving European forestry this week:

One question for you

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On 13 October, APG said it had committed €150 million to SLM Silva Fund II. APG invests on behalf of ABP, a large Dutch pension fund. SLM Partners manages the fund. SLM says the commitment anchors the fund's first and final close.

The fund will invest in European forests managed under Continuous Cover Forestry, or CCF. It continues in Ireland first. Later it plans to expand to other European forest types and locations.

Some scale, from SLM's release. APG manages €639 billion. ABP has 3.2 million participants. SLM manages $825 million.

Both releases describe CCF the same way. It keeps permanent forest cover through selective harvesting. Trees come out in regular thinnings. The forest regrows naturally.

Fund I shows the model. SLM launched it in 2018 to buy conventionally managed Irish forests. By June 2026, it held 2,000 hectares. 67% of its forest area had moved to CCF.

These are the manager's own portfolio figures. They are not an independent audit.

APG explained its choice of manager. Andrey Gushchin is a Senior Portfolio Manager in APG's Private Natural Capital team. He said SLM's "expertise and experience in CCF management were clear differentiators."

He linked CCF to ABP's climate and biodiversity goals. He also linked it to long-term returns. So the management method was part of the case. The hectares were not the whole story.

My read, and it is a read rather than a finding: forest management skill is becoming something investors pay for. One fund close does not make a trend. But it is a clear signal from a very large pension investor.

If you own conventionally managed forest in Ireland: Fund I bought that kind of forest and changed how it is run. Fund II continues in Ireland first. My advice: know whether your stands could move to CCF before anyone asks.

If you manage forests: APG named CCF experience a clear differentiator. Write down your own record. Areas converted, years taken, results seen.

If you invest: Ask managers for transition data. SLM reports 67% of Fund I's area moved to CCF by June 2026. Ask how that share is measured.

If you speak for forestry: This is a story for 3.2 million ABP participants. Part of their pension money is committed to forests managed for permanent cover. Sources: SLM Partners — SLM Partners invests €150m in European forestry on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP (13 Oct 2026) | APG — APG commits €150 million to SLM Silva Fund II's investment in European forestry (13 Oct 2026)

Land was cleared at Kajaani and Muhos for two planned Google data centres. Some of the wood reached Finland's big buyers.

On 6 October, Finland's Licensing and Supervisory Agency acted. It told Google's project company, Tuike Finland, to stop preparatory work. The stop lasts until an environmental impact assessment is complete.

Whether the felling broke the law is not established. PEFC Finland told Yle it is actively investigating.

Why it matters: Anna Ylä-Anttila is executive director of FSC Finland. She told Yle that illegally logged wood may not enter the FSC system. Metsä says what it does if disputed wood was already processed. It removes the same volume from its certified total.

The context: The EUDR applies from 30 December 2026 to large and medium operators. It also applies then to micro and small operators already under the EU Timber Regulation. The remaining micro and small operators have until 30 June 2027. EUDR due diligence asks the same questions. Where was this wood cut? Was it cut legally?

The takeaway: Metsä's first reported response was contractual. Its Juha Jumppanen said the supplier "did not comply with the terms of our agreement." My advice: if you buy through middlemen, check your contracts. Do they make suppliers name the felling site? Source: Metsä Group — Wood harvesting at data centre construction sites (16 Oct 2026) | Yle — 16 Oct 2026 (Finnish) | Yle — 17 Oct 2026, updated 18:37 (Finnish) | Licensing and Supervisory Agency via STT Info — 6 Oct 2026 (Finnish)

On 12 October, PEFC published an amended version of its Trademarks Rules. The second edition entered into force on 5 October. Existing users have until 2 October 2028 to switch.

The main changes:

Why it matters: The EU's Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo) applies from 27 September. It targets vague green claims. PEFC says companies stay responsible for their overall consumer communication.

The context: In #124, we covered EmpCo and FSC's guidance for licence holders.

The takeaway: My advice: list every place you use the PEFC logo. Start with packaging and your website. EmpCo already applies, even though the PEFC switch runs to 2028. Source: PEFC — Amended PEFC Trademarks Rules published to align with EmpCo (12 Oct 2026) | Timberbiz — Amended PEFC Trademarks Rules to align with EmpCo (14 Oct 2026)

On 15 October, Forest News reported on a trial inside Finland's national forest inventory. The Natural Resources Institute Finland runs it with the University of Jyväskylä. The project is called VMI-moni.

Last summer, teams surveyed 513 sample plots. They covered birds, ants, bracket fungi, lichens and some plant species.

Why it matters: The full inventory measures about 60,000 plots every five years. A method that saves time on one plot saves it many times over. Results are still being analysed.

The context: The project started in early 2025 and runs to the end of 2027. The Finnish Forest Foundation funds it.

The takeaway: It is not yet known which methods, if any, will become permanent. They must prove reliable, cheap and repeatable first. My advice: when you walk your forest, photograph bracket fungi on dead wood. It is a cheap nature record. Source: Forest News — Seeing beyond the trees: new ways to measure forest biodiversity (15 Oct 2026)

Look up your own forest on the EU's 2020 forest map.

The EU's Joint Research Centre has released a new version of its 2020 forest map. It is Version 4 of the Global Forest Cover map. The EUDR uses 2020 as its cut-off year. The map works at 10-metre pixels.

The Commission says the map is non-mandatory and carries no legal value. Operators may use any maps they choose. But they can use this one in their checks. So know what it says about your land.

The Commission says the biggest changes in Version 4 are outside Europe. It names Mesoamerica, the Northern Andes, Brazil's Cerrado, West and East Africa, and Eastern China. Still, a five-minute look now beats a surprise question from a buyer later. Source: European Commission — EU Deforestation Regulation Update, October 2026 | Google Earth Engine — JRC Global Forest Cover 2020, V4 (10 m pixels)

"Did any of that wood end up in your timber?"

You may hear it after a headline like this week's. From a customer, a neighbour or a reporter. The calm answer names your checks. Where the wood was cut. Who cut it. What the paperwork says.

Saying that in one breath takes practice.

Part 1 covers the questions that arrive without warning.

Investors don't only buy hectares. They buy how the hectares are run.

This week a pension investor named management experience as a reason for its choice. Investors call that a differentiator. Foresters call it knowing your trade. Both mean the same thing.

I wrote the Forest-Investment Dictionary with Danish forest economist Anders Tærø Nielsen. It has 151 pages, 11 chapters, 14 printable tools, and 3 calculators. Investors learn to read a forest. Foresters learn to read a term sheet.

When the market turns, the people who can read the numbers make the better calls. The price is €99. Get yours below.

When a supplier makes the news, someone has to answer.

I wrote The Organization, Part 3 of the Playbook. It has 165 pages, 10 chapters, 10 printable tools, and a survey. It shows what it takes to be heard, and who does the work.

Almost nobody in European forestry publishes what communication costs. The survey inside starts the count. The price is €149. Get yours below.

The brief is free. The briefing is not.

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Until Thursday!

Wish you all the best: Peter

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