Settlement reached with WWF on protection of old forests in Lapland

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The Finnish state forest enterprise Metsähallitus and the environmental organisation WWF have reached agreement on increased protection of old-growth forests of Northern Finland.
      Actual old-growth forest in the area staked out by the two sides amounts to slightly above 55,000 hectares. Metsähallitus will leave these areas permanently outside further felling.
      Completely new areas cover a combined 28,000 hectares.
      When previous conservation decisions are taken into consideration, the two sides felt that all protection values have been secured in an area extending to the south of Finnish Lapland.
     
Even in the so-called "Forest Lapland", lying south of Inari, there was an increase in protected areas. Not included were a number of old forests in a "relatively good state of nature", which Metsähallitus is to join into its natural resource planning activities. Already 40.3 percent of the forests in the area have been protected.
      The most hotly disputed area in recent years - Upper Lapland - is not part of the agreement that was now reached. Reasons for this include a high level of protection, and the fact that a separate study is going on concerning the co-existence of forestry and reindeer herding.
      The agreement is one step in the protection of northern forests. Although it will not stop discussions on the protection of old-growth forests, an understanding on the criteria of protecting old forests reached with a prestigious environmental organisation is expected to be of global significance.
     
The agreement was praised on Wednesday by WWF forest expert Duncan Pollard, and by Timo Tanninen, secretary-general of the Finnish WWF organisation.
      Pollard said that he believes that the agreement will benefit local forest industry, by ensuring that the companies' acquisition of wood is on a sustainable and responsible foundation.
     
The agreement to protect old northern forest areas from felling comes in the wake of a dispute that has been going on for years. The Finnish government left those areas outside a conservation decision made in 1996.
      WWF had sought to continue to seek an agreement with Metsähallitus, and has reached a consensus on common criteria over forest areas to be left alone.
      Metsähallitus will continue its felling in areas outside the protected zones. Last summer it withdrew from all forests under discussion.
      The Finnish League for Nature Protection withdrew from the discussion on protecting northern old-growth forests in June last year. Greenpeace never took part in the discussion. Both took a basically positive stand on the agreement that was announced on Wednesday.
      Both organisations emphasised that further north, in Forest Lapland and Upper Lapland, there are still tens of thousands of hectares of old-growth forest that are not protected.
     
Greenpeace spokesman Matti Liimatainen said that the agreement that was now reached will cover only about one third of the disputed forests of Northern Finland. In his view, all of the forests in Forest Lapland that have been classified as "relatively old" are, in fact, old-growth forests.
      Liimatainen wants to see more legal authority behind the decisions.
     
Small and medium-sized sawmills in the Kainuu region will suffer most from such extensive restrictions on felling, says Jussi Kumpula of Metsähallitus. The area will see a great shortage of felled pine.
      Kumpula estimates that there are about three million cubic metres of forest in the area. The end of felling will reduce the availability of wood by about 160,000 cubic metres a year.
      Metsähallitus does not believe that the decisions will lead to job-losses in the coming years.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  WWF claims Finnish forest service violates its own felling guidelines (16.2.2005)
  Surprise decision to protect 100,000 hectares of northern forest (14.6.2005)

Links:
  Metsähallitus
  WWF Finland

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