The government of PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) has confirmed its controversial plan for old-growth forest protection, dismissing a call by more than 400 researchers to change the criteria.
On Thursday, the cabinet approved the strict benchmarks by which the remaining old-growth forests on state land will be screened for protection, as required by the EU.
The protection of old-growth and natural forests is part of the EU's biodiversity strategy, to which Finland has committed. The strategy is aimed at halting biodiversity loss – but Finnish conservation groups and researchers say the new standards will leave most of the nation’s old-growth woodlands unprotected.
The issue has spurred a heated public debate about the protection criteria. The European Commission has left it up to member states to set their own national rules for identifying old-growth forests, based on EU guidelines.
Sharp criticism from scientific community
Last June, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah (CD) and then-environment minister Kai Mykkänen (NCP) presented the government’s proposed criteria, which spurred sharp criticism from the scientific community.
The government's final decision contains practically the same metrics as last summer’s proposal.
According to the decision, for an old coniferous forest to be protected in southern Finland, it must be at least 100 years old and contain at least 50 cubic metres of dead wood per hectare.
In the north, protected coniferous forests must be at least 160 years old, with a minimum of 10 cubic meters of dead wood per hectare.
In addition, the government lists four other criteria – species indicative of old-growth forest, signs of forest origin, structural diversity, and so-called habitat trees – two of which must be met.
Finland is the most forested country in Europe, with more than 75 percent of its land area covered by woodlands.
The state forest agency Metsähallitus oversees 12.6 million hectares of state-owned land, almost one third of Finland’s surface area.
EU: Criteria for old forests must be science-based
The national criteria are based on guidelines issued by the EU Commission to member states, but the age and decay limits chosen by the Orpo government have drawn much ire.
Most experts and bodies asked to comment on the proposal last summer said that it was too strict and would exclude virtually all forests in southern Finland from protection. That includes the hemiboreal and southern boreal zones, which reach as far north as Kuopio.
The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), among others, pointed out that the new requirement for the amount of decaying wood is so high that it is not met in much of the old forests that are already under protection.
In an open letter, more than 400 researchers appealed to the Orpo government to redefine its criteria. The Commission had specifically instructed member states to develop science-based criteria for old-growth forests.
Ministers have argued that the stricter protection criteria are needed to protect private property, among other issues. Although the guidelines are officially only used to protect state forests, they have a knock-on effect on the value of timber in private forests as well.
NGOs: Orpo broke his promise
Environmental organisations point out that the Orpo government committed to protecting the state's natural and old-growth forests in its government programme, adopted nearly two years ago.
"The decision is a total flop by all standards. The Orpo government is deliberately excluding our last valuable forests from protection by distorting scientific information," said Touko Sipiläinen, Greenpeace Finland's country director, in a statement.
"We are appalled that the government completely ignored the extensive criticism raised during the statement round, especially the critical view of the research community," said WWF Finland’s Secretary General, Jari Luukkonen.
The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC), the country’s largest environmental organisation, describes the process as "a farce".
"The government's talk about protecting old-growth forests is so far at odds with the criteria approved today that citizens may justifiably feel cheated. Putting valuable forests under threat of logging will not help stop biodiversity loss," said Antti Heikkinen, the head of FANC’s nature conservation unit.
The EU requires that the remaining old-growth and natural forests be placed under protection by 2029.
Researchers noted that old forests are crucial to curtailing biodiversity loss, as they are the sole habitats of many endangered species.
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