Protection has its costs

Environmental protection has its price. As an example, the Finnish state allocates an annual sum of some € 4.2 million for the maintenance of forest ecology. Half of this is used for environmental subsidies proper and half to a survey of habitats of special importance, as defined in the new Forest Act of 1997. After the completion of the survey during 2004, the whole budget allocation will be targeted to the maintenance of forest ecology.

Environmental subsidies are paid to forest owners on the basis of applications, for the maintenance of forest biodiversity and to compensate losses of income due to forest ecology maintenance projects. Compensations are paid if losses are "more than negligible", which means that the loss exceeds four percent of the value at felling.

A generous quarter of the funds allocated to the maintenance of forest ecology has been used in local maintenance projects, such as the maintenance and rehabilitation of important habitats located across several holdings, the emptying of sedimentation basins of drained areas, or preventing or remedying the nuisance to waterways caused by ditching, and restoring drained areas to their natural state. Funds have also been allocated to forest planning which maintains the living conditions of birds of prey and grouse species.

Forest owners also protect their forests voluntarily: they may leave retention trees during final felling or employ other soft methods in the forest. The cost of such environmental measures in private forests and across the entire rotation period is estimated at €170 per hectare. During one year, the total of these costs is €50–70 million. Adding similar costs incurred by other forest owners, the total annual expenditure for such measures is €80–100 million.

However, this does not include the tension zones left along shorelines and around fields and mires, in which felling is less frequent than otherwise. If these are included, the cost may even double.

According to a government decision in 1994, the state will acquire nature protection areas to the sum of about €84 million every year until 2006. In addition to this, an allocation of over €60 million has been set aside for paying the expenses of the pilot stage of the Forest Biodiversity Programme of Southern Finland.

In the next few years, the research programme included in the Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland will also generate more information on forestry expenditure for environmental protection.

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