114 / 311
[
] 115
ers, the authorities and environmental NGOs, in stark contrast to
the conflicts that earlier arose in Finland in relation to compul-
sory conservation programmes such as Natura 2000. Forest owners
particularly appreciate the chance to maintain their property rights
while receiving fair compensation for their participation in conser-
vation initiatives.
The METSO programme for 2008-2016 is based on an earlier pilot
programme that gained the backing of stakeholders ranging from
landowners’ associations to environmental NGOs. The new Finnish
government plans to spend 40-50 million euros annually to enable
the METSO programme to protect forest biodiversity and support
related research work. The programme’s groundbreaking approach
to forest protection has attracted interest in other countries where
social acceptability represents a potential barrier to nature conserva-
tion schemes.
Protecting state-owned forests
The METSO programme finances measures to protect and enhance
biodiversity in state-owned forests administered by Metsähallitus.
This government agency operates as a commercial forestry concern
while also striving to conserve nature and provide free recreational
facilities in state-owned lands, including Finland’s 36 national parks.
Metsähallitus recently issued new environmental forestry guide-
lines to be followed in state-owned forests. Produced through
collaboration with WWF Finland, the guidelines emphasize meas-
ures to safeguard ecosystem services, including biodiversity, carbon
sequestration, nutrient cycles, water protection, flood prevention
and recreational amenity values, as well as the production of wood
and other forest products.
In the Inari region of Finnish Lapland, Metsähallitus
recently resolved a serious conflict by defining new
logging limits acceptable to environmental NGOs and
associations of reindeer-herders, whose animals require
mature forests for winter grazing.
A favourable future
One important indicator of the sustainability of forest
management across Finland is the fact that 95 per
cent of the country’s commercially managed forests
are independently certified under the PEFC Finland
scheme. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest
certification scheme, preferred by many NGOs, is also
beginning to gain ground.
The State of Finland’s Forests 2011 report attests that
‘The state of Finland’s forests has improved over the
past 20 years. Forests, forest bioproducts and ecosystem
services are estimated to continue to form an impor-
tant part of Finland’s national economy in preparing to
alleviate the impact of climate change and to produce
well-being services for citizens’. This report is based on
Finland’s national criteria and indicators for sustainable
forest management, which are in turn derived from the
Forest Europe process.
Finland’s growing forests will undoubtedly play
a crucial role in efforts to achieve Finland’s longer-
term strategic policy goal of building a socially,
economically and ecologically sustainable bioecon-
omy by 2050.
Petri Mattus’s reindeer graze freely in forests near Inari in Finnish Lapland during
the winter. Finland’s forest policies are shaped to ensure the preservation of the
traditional reindeer-herding livelihood of the Sámi, Europe’s only indigenous people
Finns readily take advantage of their legal right of access to all
forests for recreational purposes such as harvesting natural products
including wild berries and mushrooms
Image: Hernan Patiño
Image: Kare Liimatainen