2. Design wood from primal forest

By Simo Kyllönen
     
      For me, “unique” is the word that best describes Lapland.
      Many forests in Lapland are still uniquely contiguous. Likewise, these forests are worth their weight in gold in fighting climate change, as they extract carbon form the atmosphere and store it in beautiful landscapes that provide recreation.
      But Lapland is more than just a carbon storage area and nature park. Above all, Lapland is a unique opportunity for the growth of low-carbon means of livelihood.
     
The slow-growing thick-grained wood that grows in the forests of Lapland is first-class raw material for durable wood products, which could in the future, include everything from environmentally-friendly houses to natural polymers.
      Someone with an eye for the prices in the carbon market in the future, and for the values of consumers who have become aware of climate change, will go to Lapland to set up production for design goods, house factories, and bio-plants of a new generation. Beautiful and durable design wood products from Lapland! Lovely high-carbon primal forests! Energy-efficient and modern wood houses!
     
Lapland still has a winter. Ski tunnels cannot replicate virgin snowbanks, snow-covered trees, and cross-country ski journeys.
      I know many families like my own, for whom moving to the north has become more of real option than before, because parents also want their offspring to know what it is like to ride on a sled and to hear the sound of crunching snow under their feet.
     
In addition to high-tech businesses, Lapland could offer excellent opportunities for everyday climate protection. For instance, reindeer steak has a small carbon footprint. Reindeer eat moss from the nearby woods. The reindeer roundup could also be refined into a consumer-oriented initial inspection of the food they eat.
      In Lapland a climate enthusiast can move around his or her own region with a good conscience, and when each of them are offered their fast broadband connection, a high proportion of one’s work can be done from home while admiring the beauty of a landscape dominated by autumn leaves.
      The resources of Lapland are uniquely appropriate for the needs of the climate change generation. At the same time they secure the rights of the local population to work and livelihood. The gold for low-carbon enthusiasts is waiting for its takers.
     
The writer is responsible for climate issues at the Finnish section of Greenpeace.

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 4. Driving into a nature park
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