The METSO Forest Biodiversity Action Programme aims to halt the ongoing decline in forest species and habitats and establish favourable trends in forest biodiversity by 2016. The emphasis is on forests in Southern Finland. This new programme was approved by the Finnish Government in March 2008 together with a new National Forest Programme for 2015.
The programme has been designed to benefit biodiversity by improving Finland's network of protected areas and by enhancing the forestry methods used in commercially managed forests. Conservation schemes will largely be based on the voluntary participation of landowners willing to safeguard biodiversity in their own forests.
Conservation schemes and the natural management of forest habitats will be widely realised through temporary or permanent agreements, depending on the nature of the areas needing conservation. Some areas may also be purchased by the State for designation as permanently protected areas. Compensation will be paid to landowners according to legislation in the Nature Conservation Act or the Act on the Financing of Sustainable Forestry