The Finnish Government has approved the Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland METSO. The programme aims to stop the decline in forested natural habitats and forest species and to establish a stable favourable trend in biological diversity.
"The Government Resolution ensures that the work on the programme can now be started. This is an unforeseeable input in protecting the biodiversity of forest nature. The earlier Government decisions ensure a total funding of 182 million euros for the programme until 2012. The term of the programme extends until 2016", says Minister of the Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen.
Offers will be decisive
Based on the procedure adopted in the METSO Programme, the forest owners offer valuable natural habitats for protection. For this purpose new flexible instruments have been developed, such as natural values trading and competitive tendering.
According to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, the attitude of the forest owners to voluntary protection is the key. "In southern Finland the share of commercial forests is 96%, which means that their role in ensuring the biodiversity of forests is decisive. During the exploratory phase the voluntary action worked well, and this is what we are building on from now on."
"In commercial forests the implementation of the METSO will be started in 2010, but preparatory work is already being done. The funds allocated to biodiversity in commercial forests will rise by 19 million euros for the period 2008 - 2012. This is a significant increase from the present 28 million euros and allows a considerable raise in the volumes. Through natural values trading opportunities are opened for forest owners to undertake carefully targeted nature protection measures. These voluntary actions will be making a significant contribution to enhancing biological diversity", says Minister Anttila.
Voluntary, effective and cost-efficient
The METSO Programme is implemented through ecologically effective, voluntary and cost-efficient means. The aim is to improve the nature conservation network as well as intensify nature management in commercial forests. Continuous assessment and development of the operative models call for research and a solid knowledge base.
Minister of the Environment Tiilikainen highlights the need for cooperation between all the relevant stakeholders: "Broadly-based cooperation in the preparation of the programme is very important, and the same applies to the programme implementation. Success in training and advisory work requires a thorough understanding of the daily activities of forest owners and regionally varying circumstances."
The Ministry of the Environment sets up a broadly-based monitoring group, whose tasks include the assessment of the need for and allocation of resources as the programme implementation progresses.
More permanent and fixed-term conservation areas
The present network of forest conservation areas in southern Finland is expanded by 88,000 hectares of permanent nature conservation areas. Fixed-term conservation areas should cover about 8,000 hectares. Thus the surface area of conservation areas would grow by a total of 96,000 hectares.
Earlier a decision was made to use 10,000 hectares of state-owned commercial forest for expanding the conservation areas. Under the METSO Programme these areas can now be transferred more rapidly into permanent conservation. Metsähallitus will prepare forest use plans with special emphasis on biodiversity for the most important areas as regards the uniformity and connectivity of the nature conservation network.
Protection measures are intensified in both state-owned and private conservation areas. Metsähallitus manages and restores habitats in the present and new conservation areas where such measures clearly improve the preconditions for preserving biodiversity. Metsähallitus prepares the national guidelines and operative models for improving the cost-efficiency of restoration, organisation of the monitoring and risk management. In private conservation areas undertaking management and restoration measures is subject to the consent of the land owner.
Forests owned by the state and municipalities whose utilisation is already restricted due to, for example, recreational use are also potential target areas for the management and protection of biodiversity. Metsähallitus complements the nature inventories in state hiking areas and draws up new management and use plans for these in 2008 - 2010.
Biodiversity of commercial forests
The management of biological diversity in state-owned commercial forests continues to ensure that the forest management measures undertaken on state lands serve as an example for the other forest owner categories.
In the management of private commercial forests the need to protect forest biodiversity is taken into account better than before. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is developing a model for nature management planning on individual holdings and incentives for more extensive application of the plans.
In private commercial forests protection and management measures under the Act on the Financing of Sustainable Forestry are implemented on an area of about 82,000 hectares.
Further information:
Ilkka Heikkinen, Director of Nature Conservation, Ministry of the Environment, +358 (0)40 506 1172
Aarne Reunala, Director-General, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, +358 (0)400 437 222
Marjukka Mähönen, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry +358 (0)40 721 7161
E-mail: forename.surname@ymparisto.fi and forename.surname@mmm.fi
