Water bodies

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Water bodies are an important part of the Finnish countryside. They also have great recreational value.

A great part of Finland’s surface area is covered by water. Inland water bodies cover some 10% (34,539 km²) of the country’s total surface area. The Finnish maritime area covers 52,471 km². The Finnish coastline is extensive, fragmented and enclosed by large archipelagos.

Finland’s share of the loading in the Baltic Sea is 10 % for phosphorus and 11 % for nitrogen. In Finland, agriculture is estimated to account for approximately 59,2 % of the phosphorus loading caused by human activities, while this figure for nitrogen is approximately 49,8 %. The impacts of loading caused by agriculture are the most obvious in the Archipelago Sea, the rivers in Southern Finland and the Gulf of Finland. These catchment areas include a great deal of arable land and erodible soils.

Recycling nutrients originating from agriculture is one of the key projects in the Finnish Bioeconomy Strategy. Agricultural production is governed by the EU Nitrates Directive and the national legislation based on it.