Working group to consider allowing hunting in southern national parks
Jan-Erik Enestam
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Juha Korkeaoja
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Allowing hunting in the national parks of the southern part of Finland will be considered by a working group of the Ministry of the Environment.
The working group, which has until the end of next year to make its proposals, has a mandate to consider the recreational use of protected areas of nature.
Minister of the Environment, Jan-Erik Enestam (Swed. People’s Party), and Minister of Agriculture Juha Korkeaoja (Centre) agreed late Wednesday that the group will include representatives of both ministries, as well as representatives of users of the parks, and hunters’ organisations.
The two also agreed not to put forward legislative changes in the near future that would expand the right to hunt in national parks. This means that the government will not offer changes to regulations on hunting in connection with the ongoing plans to expand national parks.
The discussions between the two ministers came in response to pressures that had come up within Parliament and its Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in connection with plans to expand the territory of national parks. For instance, the area of the Liesjärvi National Park is to be tripled.
The new part of the park would include 400 hectares of state-owned land where hunting has previously been allowed.
Enestam said after the discussions that the issue of hunting in national parks will not be part of the actual mandate of the working group, but that the issue will have to be examined, as there are pressures for such a move.
In their discussions, the ministers noted that although hunting is not allowed in southern national parks in Finland, it is possible to cull elk and deer populations, when necessary, by giving special permits to hunters.
However, Enestam wants better clarification of how the need to cull an animal population can be determined more accurately. The issue will be dealt with by the same working group that will be examining the recreational use of the parks.
Enestam says that the aim is to find a clear reliable model for determining the need to reduce populations, which could be enacted already before a surge in collisions between cars and elk.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.11.2004 - TODAY |
 Working group to consider allowing hunting in southern national parks |
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