.
The Project for Expanding and
Developing Jointly Owned Forests
MetsäPremium Ltd
Photos by Riikka Jauhiainen
Contents
1 Jointly owned forests in Finland
2 Administration of a jointly owned forest
3 Operation of a jointly owned forest
4 Partnership in a jointly owned forest
XXXX Jointly Owned Forest
Address
Contact person and telephone number
E-mail address
Website address
The Project for Expanding and
Developing Jointly Owned Forests
MetsäPremium Ltd
Photos by Riikka Jauhiainen
1 Jointly owned forests in Finland
• A jointly owned forest (JOF) is
an area belonging to several real
estates jointly.
• These privately owned land and
water areas are managed by the
partnership.
• The shareholders of a JOF are
the owners of shareholding real
estates.
• A JOF is primarily intended to be
used for practicing sustainable
forestry for the benefit of
shareholders.
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1.1 The location of JOFs
• There are over 275 jointly
owned forests in Finland.
• The total area of JOFs in
Finland is approximately
576 000 ha – about 4,5 % of
the area of non-industrial
private forests.
• The size of JOFs varies from
under 20 ha to 90 000 ha.
• The largest JOFs are to be
found in Northern Finland.
Land and water areas of Finnish jointly owned forests
in the year 2013. Source: Land Survey of Finland
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1.2 The history of JOFs
• The oldest jointly owned
forests date to 1887.
• Established only by the
officials before 2003
– A majority were established through
the basic land consolidation and as
JOFs for relocated settlements in the
period 1930−1960.
• Since 2003, JOFs have been
established through
agreements between forest
owners.
– The number of JOFs has doubled
ever since.
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1.3 The history of XXXX
Jointly Owned Forest
• Date of establishment: xxx
• Type of JOF: family forest,
land consolidation forest,
investors’ JOF, JOF of
relocated Karelians, etc.
• Total area
– At the point of establishment:
xxx ha
– At present: xxx ha
• Significant events:
– xxx
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1.4 Contact information of XXXX
Jointly Owned Forest
Registered hometown:
Location of the forests:
Chairman of the administrative board:
Agent:
Executive director:
Website address:
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1.5 Development outlooks of JOFs
• New jointly owned forests are
mainly minor family forests.
• An increasing amount of JOFs
have been established by
investors.
• Municipalities and parishes are
also increasingly interested in
JOF partnership.
• Forest owners incorporate their
real estates into JOFs in return for
shares.
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2 Administration of a
jointly owned forest
• Central decrees:
– Act on Jointly Owned Forests
109/2003
– Act on the Formation of Real
Estate 554/1995
• According to the Act on Jointly
Owned Forests, a jointly owned
forest has to have:
– The rules of procedure
– A forest management plan
– An administrative board or an
agent chosen by the
partnership
– An annual strategy and budget
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2.1 The administration of XXXX
Jointly Owned Forest
• Our jointly owned forest
has an administrative board
/ an agent.
• In our JOF there are:
– xxx shareholding real estates
– xxx members in the
administrative board
– xxx employees
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2.2 Figures on the area of our JOF
Year (edit columns if necessary)
2010
Total area
ha
Woodland
ha
Wasteland
ha
Water areas
ha
Environmental
aid and Metso
stands
ha
Conserved due
to own decisions
ha
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
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2.3 The economy of our JOF
• The turnover of our jointly
owned forest is x € per year.
• The value of our share is x €.
• Out of our total income, x %
are forestry earnings.
• Other sources of income: x, y,
z…
• We divide a surplus of ca. x €
to shareholders each year /
every nth year.
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2.4 Taxation of JOFs
• As a body corporate, the
partnership is a tax-paying
entity.
• After taxation, the surplus is
shared among the
shareholders as tax-free
profit.
• Taxation is slightly lighter
than in other private
ownership forms.
Photo: Microsoft Office
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3 Operation of a
jointly owned forest
• Jointly owned forests operate
primarily in the field of forestry.
• The forests can also be used for
other purposes, provided that it
is economically and otherwise
reasonable.
• Forests are tended and
harvested according to a JOF’s
own forest management plan.
• Some of the profit is allocated
as surplus; some can be
consigned for future demands.
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3.1 The forestry of our JOF
Year (edit columns if necessary)
1970
Increment of
the growing
stock
m3 /
year
Planned cut
m3 /
year
Of which
saw-timber
%
1980
1990
2000
2010
2014
Silvicultural
work on
ha/
saplings and year
young stands
Forest
regeneration
ha/
year
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3.2 The income of our JOF
Year (edit columns if necessary)
2010
Total
turnover
€/
year
Proceeds
from timber
sales
€/
year
Rental
income
(hunting)
€/
year
Rental
income
(cottages,
lots etc.)
€/
year
Other
income
€/
year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
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3.3 Our expanding JOF
• Our jointly owned forest
has purchased xxx ha of
land within the last five
years.
• New areas totalling xxx ha
have been incorporated in
return for shares.
• The incorporations have
brought xxx new
shareholders.
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4 Partnership in a
jointly owned forest
• Being a forest owner in a JOF is easy and carefree.
– The administrative board or the agent is responsible for forest
management and timber trade.
– The model of management is functional and democratic.
• Forests remain unpartitioned as reasonable units.
• The “economy of greatness” works in both timber trade and
silviculture.
• The ownership of the property is easily rearranged through
the conveyance of shares.
• A JOF offers hunting, fishing, and other recreational
opportunities.
• It is also an easy and relatively safe investment opportunity.
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4.1 Concerning the rights of shareholders
• There is no other way to be a shareholder than to own a real
estate with shares of a JFO.
• The right to a surplus according to the share ratio
• The right to vote according to the share ratio
– Some restrictions to the voting rights exist.
• The Act on Jointly Owned Forests secures equal treatment of
shareholders.
• The area of a JOF is jointly managed – there is no right for a
single shareholder to independent silvicultural activities.
– Allowed activities according to the rules of procedure
• Everyman’s right stands in the area of JOFs, too.
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4.2 The shares and shareholders
of our JOF
• In our jointly owned forest, there
is a total of xxx shareholders.
• The total amount of shares in
our JOF is xxx.
• Our JOF partnership has / does
not have a pre-emption right to
the separately sold shares.
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4.3 Incorporating woodland into
XXXX Jointly Owned Forest
• A forest owner can dispose land to be incorporated into our
JOF in return for shares.
• A possibility to incorporate either parts of land or complete
forest holdings
• No tax consequences
– Provided that the agreement does not involve financial transfers
• Bilateral incorporation agreement
– Requires determining the value of the to-be-incorporated forest area
and the JOF shares
• Incorporating: inexpensive, no handling fee
• The new partner immediately becomes an equal member of
the JOF.
• Purchase of property is also negotiable.
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