Finnish Association for Nature Conservation’s youth organization Nature League has criticized Metsähallitus’s fellings in Forest Lapland. According to Nature League, natural wilderness forests are felled in fellings in the municipalities of Salla, Savukoski and Kittilä.

Nature League claims that Metsähallitus deliberately weakens natural values and connections to existing conservation areas. Metsähallitus denies this.

”We do not harvest valuable natural forests,” says Ms. Kirsi-Marja Korhonen, Regional Director for Western Lapland in Metsähallitus.

Korhonen says that fellings have mainly been done in areas, which have been in forestry use before. “Valuable habitats and sites have been excluded from fellings. In addition, the fellings have been allocated to areas which have only small amounts of decayed wood,” she says.

The areas, which Nature League criticizes, are situated within the 110,000-hectare area that Greenpeace has demanded for protection since 2006. In addition to this, the organization has mapped a 90,000 hectare area for protection in the municipality of Inari.

Dispute concerns the amount of protection
According to Korhonen, the main point in the dispute is, sufficient amount of protection means. “In the vegetation zone of Forest Lapland, 43 percent of all forest land, private and state, is protected. Of the state-owned forests, over half is protected,” Korhonen says.

Traditionally environmental organizations have stated that the protection goal is ten percent. In Forest Lapland a lot more protection is not enough. And yet, in Russia and Canada mainly natural forests are felled, for example.

Korhonen says that regeneration fellings have been done in 51 different sites, in total of 130 hectares. In addition, there are also 130 hectares of thinnings. For the main part the fellings already have been carried out, and no new ones are planned in near future.

Disagreements continue in Upper Lapland
An old dispute has flamed anew in Upper Lapland. The reindeer herders’ cooperative of Muotkatunturi criticizes the felling plans of Metsähallitus for their area. Metsähallitus plans to operate on 55 hectares of which 11 hectares would natural regeneration fellings and the rest thinnings and removal of seed trees.

Also these disputed areas are within the area demanded for protection by Greenpeace.

Reindeer herder, Ms. Outi Jääskö, of the reindeer herders’ cooperative of Muotkatunturi has said that these fellings would damage the pastures. This would, according to her, mean less food available for the reindeers, after which the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry would decrease the maximum reindeer amounts allowed for the cooperative.

On the other side of the harvesting area planned by Metsähallitus are forests owned by a private person and on the other, forests owned by the Forest Common of Utsjoki reindeer herders.

The reindeer herders’ cooperative approves fellings in these forests as “only state has the responsibility to uphold Sámi reindeer herding,” as Jääskö said in a recent interview.

There is 248,000 hectares of state land in the area used by the reindeer herders’ cooperative of Muotkatunturi, of which six percent is forestry land.

No conflicts in private forests
Mr. Vesa Väisänen, Managing Director for the local forest owners association confirms that fellings in private forests do not lead to conflicts.

“People know that the legislation sets more obligations for the state as a forest owner than for private citizens. And on the other hand, reindeer herders must pay and have paid compensations for damages caused to private forestry,” says Väisänen.

The Utsjoki reindeer herders’ common forest has had fellings done near the disputed, planned fellings. In January the same common forest lent money gained from fellings to the Saami Council, a non-governmental organization. The Saami Council has publicly strongly disapproved fellings in Upper-Lapland.

Ms. Pauliina Feodoroff, President of the Saami Council has stated that if one starts to think how ethical money is, one must stop using banking systems completely.

By Krista Kimmo



Metsähallitus on Forest Lapland
Metsähallitus on Upper Lapland
Protection status of southernmost Forest Lapland 23,71 Kb
Biotope protection in Upper Lapland 23,27 Kb
Upper Lapland in forest.fi