The agreement between WWF and state-owned forestry company Metsähallitus finalises the so-called dialogue process initiated in 2002. As the last effort WWF and Metsähallitus have pinpointed the protected areas on the maps on the basis of additional site information gathered by environmental organisations.

The total area of new protection has not changed since the decision of Metsähallitus in June 2005. The decision was to protect, as a part of the dialogue process, an additional 100,000 hectares of land area, out of which some 55,000 hectares was productive forest.

The agreement is not the first step in old-growth protection in Finland. WWF and Metsähallitus state in their common press release published today in Helsinki that, taking the earlier decisions into consideration, the agreement means that essential nature values in state-owned forests are safeguarded in an area reaching from the line between Oulu and Southern Kuhmo to the Southern border of the municipality of Enontekiö and the vegetation zone known as Forest Lapland.

When starting the dialogue process the ENGOs and Metsähallitus agreed that the discussions shall not deal with Upper Lapland, as there was a special process going on concerning accommodating forestry and reindeer herding and, because the share of protected forests in Upper Lapland already was and is very high.

According to Metsähallitus, the areas defined in the process are permanently excluded from any logging operations. The areas defined are also included in the Last of the Last -maps published in 2000 by the international environmental organisation Taiga Rescue Network.

Additional protection in Forest Lapland, too
The sites taken out of commercial use were selected according to well-established criteria for old-growth forests. Special attention was paid to structural features of forest and endangered species.

When defining the borders of the sites, attention was also paid to the vitality of the old-growth forest areas. Because of this, small fragments of old-growth forests were excluded from protection, with some exceptions near the Southern border of the area.

The agreement means that the share of protection increases also in the northernmost part of the area, Forest Lapland, although the share in there already is very high, about 40 percent. Some forests in relatively natural conditions remained, however, in forestry use. This is why Metsähallitus will, before any operational planning in sites resembling old-growth forests, review the sufficiency of the conservation network.

Also the reconciliation of forestry, reindeer herding and other multiple uses of forests are continued within the framework of Natural Resource Planning and operational planning of state-owned forests.

WWF: “A demonstration of global responsibility”
According to Mr. Duncan Pollard, Director of WWF International's Forest Programme, the agreement between WWF and Metsähallitus is significant also internationally. “Finland demonstrates its global responsibility by safeguarding the conservation of these unique old-growth forests,” says Mr. Pollard in his statement given for the press conference held today in Helsinki.

Pollard also strongly believes that the decision improves the competitiveness of the Finnish forest industry, “which operates in a global market where responsibility and sustainability are very important issues for the buyers of forest-products.”

“Moreover,” he also says, “the negotiation process sets an example of constructive conflict-solving to many ongoing forest disputes around the world.”

Metsähallitus is satisfied with the agreement as well. “We are carrying out our forestry in a responsible manner. Our aim continues to be the reconciliation of the different views of state-owned forests. We are happy with the solution reached with the WWF. It certainly will be a strength for the whole forest sector and its future in Northern Finland,” says Forestry Director, Mr. Hannu Jokinen from Metsähallitus.

Loggings will decrease in Kainuu
The decision means that annually there will be 160,000 fewer cubic meters of timber on the market. Out of this, 40 percent is stout timber. As far as Lapland is concerned, this will not result in decreased loggings, but the options to increase them are lost. In Kainuu, which lies to the south from Lapland, loggings will decrease.

In terms of person work years this amounts to 80 in forestry and 120 in forest industry. However, Metsähallitus has already adapted its operations and there will be no need of dismissals.

With regards to forest industry, this and several similar decisions taken earlier are significant. “As for local sawmills, the prospects have not been bright, not because of lack of profitability,“ as Director Jussi Kumpula from Metsähallitus said at the press conference. Director Matti Karjula of Stora Enso Forest also said that the problem is a real one, but not so much with regard to pulp and paper industry. He also welcomed the decision.

Mr. Timo Tanninen, Secretary General of WWF Finland greeted the decision as something unique in the history of Finnish forest protection. “This proves that the ENGOs are capable of fact-based co-operation with the forest sector,” he said.

Conservation expert, Mr. Olli Turunen from WWF Finland compared the decision with the situation in Sweden. “They are now monitoring their old-growth forests, which was done in Finland with comparable thoroughness already in the early 1990’s. As far as the high-lying areas are concerned, Sweden has carried its responsibilities fairly well, but with regard to the lowest-lying areas the situation is catastrophic,” said Turunen.

The FANC and Greenpeace also welcomed the decision, though they pointed out that there is still a need to increase protection in Forest Lapland. Nevertheless, more that 40 percent of all types of old-growth forest are protected there – while the World Conservation Union IUCN, for example, considers a sufficient level to be ten percent.

The old disputes are now settled
The agreement means that the disputes dating back to the old-growth forest protection programmes accepted by the Finnish Government in 1996 are now settled. At that time a share of the nature values of old-growth forests were to be safeguarded by Landscape-Ecological Planning of Metsähallitus. This was not accepted by the ENGOs, which also repeatedly attracted international attention.

To settle the disputes, WWF and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation proposed negotiations in December 2002. This led to a discussion process known as the dialogue process, started in spring 2003. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of the Environment as well as the National Forest Council gave their support to the discussions.

The process gained, however, strong criticism from other stakeholders. Because of this, special stakeholder meetings, open for anybody, were attached to the process. All in all there were five meetings of this kind.

During the process, the ENGOs and Metsähallitus met 74 times. Altogether over 400 sites and 360,000 hectares were dealt with. Of this area, the share of productive forest land is some 50 percent. Metsähallitus excluded all these sites from loggings during the process.

Last June Metsähallitus decided to protect 100,000 hectares of the areas which had been dealt with in the process. After that the work to pinpoint the areas on the maps was started on the basis of additional information. The agreement of today means that this work has been finalised.

By Hannes Mäntyranta



Report on the protection decision by Metsähallitus in June 2005.

WWF Finland's press release.

Press release of Metsähallitus.