It’s International Year of Forests, and papermaker UPM – together with Miss Earth Nicole Faria  – invites you to get involved.

The company is backing a week of ‘Act Now! Forests for the Future’ events which opens in Joensuu , Finland, today. Thousands of young people are expected at the events, at which Faria will also make an appearance.

The international conference focussing on the state of the world's forests takes place from September13–17, with participants from 60 countries expected. The Joensuu conference is a key events in  the UN-designated International Year of Forests. From September 15–16, Joensuu  Areena will be transformed into a “world forest”, where the participants will attend workshops and various other forest-related activities.

The conference is organised by ENO, the support organisation of the ENO –Environment Online virtual school and network. UPM is a supporting member of the association and participating to the event by presenting its awarded UPM Forest Life web site.

Timo Lehesvirta, environmental affairs director at UPM Energy & Pulp, says the story of how the virtual school came about is very appealing: “Environment Online builds on an environmental project launched by Mika Vanhanen, a teacher at a tiny school in Eno in Joensuu in 2000.

“Over the years, this project has evolved into an important global promoter of environmental awareness,” he says.

ENO - Environment Online engages now over 8000 schools from over 150 countries to participate in the virtual school and network. It enables children and young people from all over the world to come together to think about the importance of the environment, identify ways of protecting the world’s forests and promote sustainable development.

The virtual school and network is very well known globally, with patrons including chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall, and Queen Noor of Jordan. They are both members of ENO Mothers, a network of women who support the ethos of ENO Environment Online.

Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel price, has also encouraged the virtual school in its action. Nicole Faria also lends her face and voice to the Miss Earth organisation to increase environmental awareness.

ENO Online aims to plant 100 million trees by 2017, the year Finland celebrates 100 years as an independent state. The planting of trees got underway in 2004, and some six million trees have been planted to date. As an ENO partner UPM arranges every year tree planting days for students in many countries.

“Planting trees is an essential part of sustainable forestry and responsible use of natural resources. As part of forest regeneration, UPM plants three times as many seedlings as it fells trees. We plant some 50 million seedlings each year,” Lehesvirta says.