Research project Corporate Forest granted 400 000 euros by Kone Foundation
The interdisciplinary project aims to explore why forest protection so often falls short. Forest loss is shaped by the ways forests are spoken about, defined, and classified in law and regulation.
University lecturer Hanna Malik and a research team has received a four-year funding from Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella programme. The 399 000 euro funding is granted for the project Corporate Forest: Revealing Hidden Harms in Forest Regulation Through Computational and Posthuman Legal Analysis (CF).
The working group consists of University Teacher Juho Aalto, and Doctoral Researchers Sonja Vilenius and Marjaana Sjölund.
Corporate Forest is an interdisciplinary project that brings together computational analysis, socio legal research, and posthuman perspectives.
– The aim is to explore why forest protection so often falls short, Malik says.
Forest loss is not only an ecological problem—it is shaped by the ways forests are spoken about, defined, and classified in law and regulation. These framings influence which harms become possible, permissible, or invisible.
By analysing legal and political texts at scale, CF uncovers the subtle patterns and structures that enable exploitation to continue even where protection is the stated goal.
– This work generates concrete, accessible knowledge to support biodiversity protection and the safeguarding of old growth forests. The project does not only examine forests—it examines the regulatory and discursive infrastructures that shape their futures.
CF supports the aims of Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella programme by revealing the hidden mechanisms that shape forest governance, strengthening forest respecting legal practices, and helping prevent future harm.
