Landscape values have been addressed in various programmes. According to Finland's National Forest Programme 2015, forest management recommendations should be revised to also take landscape values into account. The Rural Policy Programme suggests that forest management works should be adjusted to the landscape in the best way possible.
The annual follow-up of nature management shows that the standard of landscape management in forestry operations is already quite good. Forest sector operators wish to take landscape values better into account in the planning and implementation of timber production measures, in line with the targets set by the forest owners. A project to be completed this year by experts from the Forestry Development Centre Tapio, Metsähallitus, Finnish Forestry Centre and Finnish Forest Research Institute aims to improve the landscape management expertise of forest professionals.
− The aim is to prepare a do-it-yourself landscape management model for actors in the forest sector and forest owners. We wish to ensure that at least the present, quite good standard of landscape management is preserved. Through the model landscape management takes place in a cost-efficient way as part of timber production, while timber output stays the same, says Forest Expert Airi Matila from Tapio.
Landscape planning is needed especially on sites that are the most commonly viewed, from near or far. Such sites are estimated to represent about a fifth of the regeneration sites in commercial forests.
Clear instructions for addressing landscape issues
The landscape management model is intended for commercial forests, where timber production is the main purpose of use. Through the model the landscape values of a certain site which, for example, have been marked for felling are considered on the basis of the visibility and uses of the site, as well as how important and attractive the landscape is.
− More careful consideration of the felling and management works give us more diverse and open forest landscapes, believes Ministerial Adviser Sinikka Jalasjoki from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The results of the project will be presented in a seminar to be organised in Lahti by the Finnish Forestry Centre on 4 October 2012.
Further information in Tapio:
Forest Expert Airi Matila, tel. +358 (0)20 772 9058
Environmental Expert Maria Lindén, tel. +358 (0)20 772 9192
Photo: Forest landscape from a clearing
Photographer: Martti Kuusinen/Tapio
