Forest and water management in Finland National report Eero Kubin & Samuli Kemppainen

Forest and water management in Finland National report Eero Kubin & Samuli Kemppainen Twenty-eighth Session of the European Forestry Commission Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds 12-16 September 2011. Kastamonu, Turkey Photo Eero Kubin Layout Tuula Aspegren

Content 1. Geographical settings 2. Forests and water management 2.1 Institutional settings for sustainable forestry 2.2 Institutional settings for water management 3. Ecosystem services 4. Summary

Finland located in Northern Europe boarding the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland FINLAND jouko.hopeavuo@julkaisukartat.fi From the boreonemoral zone almost to arctic tundra Mean annual temperature between -2 C - +5 C.

Finland the most extensive forest cover in Europe Some 23 million hectares (76%) is under forests in Finland, representing about 11% of the forest area in Europe (210 million ha).

Finnish mire nature original area was 10 million hectares, of which a half is drainaged

Lakes in Finland Percentage of water surface area 187 888 lakes larger than 500 m 2 56 000 lakes over one hectare. Length of coastline is 314 604 km < 5 % 5-15 % 15 35 % > 35 %

Latitude is the main factor on Finland's climate Photos from the northern part of the country Photos Eero Kubin

Institutional settings for sustainable forestry The supreme authority in forestry is the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Legislation and EU decision-making through the Government The Department of Forestry is charged with directing and developing forest policy in Finland. Under the performance guidance of Ministry are The Forest and Park Service Metsähallitus, The Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Forestry Development Centre Tapio and the regional Forestry Centres

There has been several forest programmes in Finland since 1960 s to develope forest policy and practice PROGRAMME PREPARATION SCOPE RECEIVER MERA I, II 1963-1969 Silviculture, improvement Government MERA III 1973-1975 Forest improvement World Bank Forest 2000 1983-1985 Economy, multiple use Economic Council - follow-up 1986-1989 Economy, multiple use Min. Agr. For. - revision 1990-1992 Economy, forest health Min. Agr. For. NFP 2010 1998-1999 Economic, ecological and social sustainability Government NFP 2015 2007-2008 To increase welfare Government from diverse forest

State of Finland s forests 2011 State of Finland s Fores t s 2011. Parviainen Jari & Västilä Sinikka (2011). Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), 95 p. www.metla.fi/index-en.html

Over 60 % of forests are privately owned Old and young generation of the family thinking on the management of their own forest property.

Growing stock steadily increased over last 50 years The volume of growing stock has increased by more than 40 %, being 2,200 million m 3 at the end of 2010. Finland s forests are major carbon sinks by absorbing large amount of CO 2 from the atmosphere.

Wood-based fuels 20% of total energy consumption The use of wood-based fuels has increased in Finland since the 1990s. In 2009 the share of wood-based fuels of all renewable energy sources accounted for 80 %.

State of Finland s Fores t s 2011. Parviainen Jari & Västilä Sinikka (2011). Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), 95 p. www.metla.fi/index-en.html

Institutional settings for water management Issues relating to water systems receive special attention especially in forest management plans Finland s high standards of water protection are based on the legislation in the Environmental Protection Act and the Water Act Lakes, rivers, groundwater reserves and the Baltic Sea have been carefully monitored in Finland for decades The Baltic Sea in focus

Forest and Water Network Meeting in Copenhagen, May 2011 The overall objective to reach a better environment in the Baltic Sea Region through sustainable forestry so that waters (lakes, watercourses and wetlands) and in the end also the Baltic Sea will achieve a better status Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and forestry has an important role in EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy (Action Plan priority area 9, forest) Four activities were concluded for further work in Copenhagen Planning tools Drainage systems Buffer zones including peatlands Beavers

Ecosystem services in Finnish forests are divided into: provisioning services regulating services cultural services supporting services State of Finland s Forest s 2011. Parviainen Jari & Västilä Sinikka (2011). Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), 95 p. www.metla.fi/index-en.html

Strictly protected forests largest in Europe The area of strictly protected area accounts for 5.2 % of Finland s total forest area. The total area of protected forests and forests under restricted use is 3 million hectares, or 13.0 % of all forest land.

Non-wood goods represent 30 % of the total value of roundwood and non-wood products Nature tourism, game meat, berries and mushrooms important non-wood products

Photos Tuula Aspegren

Summary Finnish forest policy - is applied in all economic forests An announcement of all forest cuttings obligatory The goals have been defined in forest programmes - keeps forests producing well - improves sustainable forestry - safeguards and retains biodiversity - surveys threatened species and specifies valuable habitats - prevents water pollution Forest certification leads to sustainable forest management

Thank you Photos Erkki Oksanen