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From the vault 🎙️

In this rerun, Marcos Wichert, Vice President of Plantation Forest and Sustainability Management at Stora Enso, shares lessons from his global career across Brazil, China, New Zealand, and Finland. We explore how sustainable forestry must adapt to local ecosystems, regulations, and communities, from catchment-based planning and biodiversity KPIs to the realities of Eucalyptus. A practical, boardroom-level conversation on aligning forestry investments with climate, nature, and long-term value.

“Sustainable forestry means managing commercial forests at a landscape level, with the catchment area as the key management unit to monitor and guide the impacts of forestry activities.”

Harvest less than the forest grows each year, and that’s a basic principle of sustainable forestry."

0:00 From the vault: sustainable forest management in production forestry

0:40 Navigating ecosystem services, standards, and new tools in forest finance

1:13 Marcos Wichert joins + “favourite tree” icebreaker (Araucaria angustifolia)

1:44 Marcos’ career journey: Brazil → China → New Zealand → Brazil → Indonesia → Finland

4:29 Defining sustainable forestry: core principles + landscape-level responsibility

5:15 Catchment-based planning and hydrology as a sustainability foundation

6:13 How sustainability differs by jurisdiction: Brazil vs China vs the Nordics

10:07 Plantation vs semi-natural forests, certification realities, and investor considerations

12:50 What investors should assess: FSC/PEFC, KPIs, monitoring, and traceable data

16:15 Eucalyptus: myths, risks, and best practice (right species, right place)

18:03 Water stability through age-class mosaics across a catchment

22:14 Spatial vs temporal scales: compartments, estates, landscapes, and planning units

24:01 EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): traceability down to compartment level

25:15 Why catchments matter for sustainability (especially for fast-growing species)

29:08 Boardroom sustainability: clients, regulation, traceability, and “nature-positive” products

31:11 The premium problem: paying for biodiversity and beyond-compliance actions

32:30 Nature Positive Impact (NPI): targets, science partnerships, and biodiversity KPIs

34:24 Public equities: what to look for in sustainability reporting + red flags

37:06 Wrap-up: forestry’s role in climate + biodiversity solutions

38:02 Where to find Marcos: LinkedIn + EUFRO work on automation and robotics

38:51 Closing from Shauna Matkovich (Forest Invest)

Founding Director and Host: Shauna Matkovich - The ForestLink

Producer and Editor: Magdalena Laas - Unscripted Creatives

Nature by MaxKoMusic/Soundcloud

Sopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/Soundcloud

Ambient Documentary by Sound Guru (Pixabay)

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From the vault: Sustainable Forest Management in Production Forests – with Marcos Wichert