As last year, Leanheat’s Christmas present in 2020 is a piece of woodland. Working in close collaboration with Puuni Oy, the company plants saplings that will serve as efficient carbon sinks as they grow.

A 3.5 hectare plot of land in Suonsaari, Mikkeli, features a copse of sturdy saplings of silver birch and Siberian larch. Planted last spring, they will eventually form a lush mixed forest.

A similar plot near Ideapark in Lempäälä will be planted with silver birch and pine next spring.

These future forests are carbon sinks created by Puuni Oy in collaboration with Leanheat. Carbon sinks bind carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide one way of offsetting emissions. Leanheat initiated its collaboration with Puuni Oy one year ago: last year Christmas funds were donated for the Suonsaari carbon sink and this year for the Lempäälä sink.

The carbon dioxide offset achieved with the 700 saplings in Lempäälä is worth 200 tonnes of bound carbon. An equivalent amount of CO2 emissions is created by driving a car one million kilometres or flying from Helsinki to New York and back 230 times. The carbon sink in Mikkeli acquired last year is of the same order of magnitude.

In Mikkeli, the saplings are planted in a former field and in Lempäälä on idle land. Both areas have been taken over by grass to such an extent that trees would no longer take root without assistance. The areas are owned and tended by municipalities. Carbon sinks are used to grow diversified mixed forests that offer habitats for a wide variety of organisms. As deciduous trees will dominate the future woodlands, they can successfully withstand global warming. Ownership of the forests will be retained by the local municipalities. The plan in Lempäälä is to use the forest for recreation purposes. The town is prepared to allow the forest to grow for at least the next one hundred years.

Exact location of the Lempäälä carbon sink: https://www.google.com/maps/place/61%C2%B021’57.1%22N+23%C2%B048’36.5%22E/@61.3658611,23.8079502,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d61.365848!4d23.81015

Exact location of the Suonsaari carbon sink in Mikkeli: https://www.google.com/maps/place/61%C2%B044’07.3%22N+27%C2%B018’03.5%22E/@61.7353473,27.2987953,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d61.73536!4d27.300984

 

Season’s Greetings to all our partners and customers!