Finland's protected forests are the largest in Europe

The combined area of Finnish nature protection areas is 2.8 million hectares, which is 11 percent of the land area and nearly equivalent in size to Belgium. The protected areas consist of 1.3 million hectares of forest, which is six percent of the country's forested area – while the global average of strictly protected forests is 1.6 percent of forest area. According to the definition of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the extent of protected forests in Finland is almost four times as high as the European average.

As far as possible, Finland's nature protection areas are maintained in their natural state. The great majority of them are accessible to hikers and amateur naturalists.

The most recent assessment of threatened species in Finland is from the year 2000. An equally extensive assessment has only been carried out in Sweden. 1,505 species were classified as being threatened, and of them about 30 percent are threatened by forestry. The large share of forest species is due to the fact that most of the country consists of forests.

The risks are greatest in southern Finland, for several reasons. Herb-rich forests have been cleared for agriculture, and the hardwood species in Finland live at the periphery of their distribution area. The pasturing of cattle in forests is no longer practised, so that woodland pastures have nearly vanished. Forestry has contributed to the decrease of decayed wood and old hardwood trees, especially aspen, and it has also decreased the incidence of forest fires. Thanks to the programme adopted by the Finnish Government in the autumn of 2002, these issues will be addressed.

The means available to forestry can only have a limited impact on improving the living conditions of threatened species. Among other things, they consist of excluding from forestry measures all habitats of special importance as defined by the Forest Act, of favouring prescribed burning, mixed-species forests and aspen, and of leaving retention trees and decayed wood in the forests.

22. Share and area of strictly protected forests in certain European countries.

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