The state of Finnish forests has improved

Over the past 40 years the volume of the growing stock has increased by more than 40 per cent, while the utilisation rate of forests has also been on a high level. The biological diversity of forests has attracted a great deal of attention, and today this is a parallel and complementary objective alongside with wood production.

Based on the measurements of defoliation, i.e. loss of needles due to air pollutants, the state of Finnish forests is satisfactory and has remained quite stable. In the past 20 years forest fires or storms have caused no extensive damages in forests.

The State of Finland's Forests 2007 report is one of the main contributions of Finland to the MCPFE in Warsaw. "I consider this report a most important situation review of our forests. The report will be presented at the Ministerial Conference in Warsaw as a good example of how sustainable forestry can be realised in practise," says the Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila.

In recent years the protection of biological diversity has been one of the key areas in forest management. The focus on forest biodiversity and the new forest management methods introduced in Finland have slowed down the endangerment of certain forest species since the 1990s. The forest area protected under various protection programmes and decisions has tripled over the past 30 years.

In forest policy, the forest energy issues have received a great deal of emphasis in the context of the discussions on climate change. Wood-based fuels represent about a third of the total energy consumption. Forests also function as significant carbon sinks. Increased knowledge highlights the social and cultural role of forests. Instead, the economic profitability of forestry has not improved even if the volume and annual increment of the wood resources have continued to grow.

State of Finland's Forests 2007 is the third report in which the state of Finnish forests has been assessed using the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management. Now the application of these indicators constitutes a time series which spans more than 10 years. Even if changes in forests are slow, the indicators already allow to distinguish certain main tends and to make comparisons concerning, in particular, the impacts of forest policy decisions. The report was compiled at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) on the basis of indicators agreed by a broadly-based group of experts.

Further information at the Finnish Forest Research Institute:
Jari Parviainen, Chair of the Expert Group, tel. +358 50 391 3010, jari.parviainen@metla.fi

Further information at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:
Aarne Reunala, Director-General, tel. +358 9 160 53350; +358 400 437 222
Heikki Granholm, Forest Counsellor, tel. +358 400 774 298