This work was commissioned by Forest Management Association Uusimaa, whose headquarters are located in Mäntsälä. The work was done according to their needs.

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a model that helps to choose areas for energy wood thinning, and, also, to explain the forest owners why their forests should be used for energy wood.

The research was done as an assignment for Forest Management Association Uusimaa and, therefore, the ten test areas were located in their district. The test areas were founded during the spring 2009. Measurements for each of the test areas, which were used in calculating the volume and price of the wood, were also carried out during that time.

The main work method of this thesis was action research that took place in the forest. The information of the growing stock in the test areas was measured accurately and notes based on visual observation were taken. The main secondary source of data was the Internet, which proved to be sufficient. Previous literature was also used, but since this a new field of research not much information was found.

As a result of this study we can say that energy wood thinning, as whole-tree harvesting, is a worthwhile option in young stands. The visual observations used in gathering the data proved to be somewhat unreliable, which caused some problems for the study. Clear target areas of energy wood were easy to find, but “so called” borderline cases created challenges for visual observation. From the research done, we can conclude that satisfactory primary data lead to an unsurprising outcome.