Almost 400 hectares of very old forest remain for protection.
Kuusamo joint forest and North Ostrobothnia’s ELY center have agreed on the establishment of two private nature reserves. 381 hectares of forest area will be protected.
The largest area is the 215-hectare Juhtivaara Nature Reserve, located in Liikasenvaara in North Kuusamo. There is an old-growth forest in the area, as the dominant forest has 200–300-year-old pine trees, individual trees can be even older.
The second area is located near the Posio border in Silting. The surface area of \u200b\u200bthe area is 166 hectares. The Juhtivaara nature reserve was established in March and the Siltinki-Palovaara nature reserve will be established later this year.
Protected areas will be established in Kuusamo based on the joint forest’s offer. The North Ostrobothnia ELY center and Kuusamo joint forest have agreed on the establishment of eleven separate private conservation areas in Kuusamo over the past six years. The total area of \u200b\u200bthese areas is approximately 868 hectares. In total, the collective forest owns about 1,700 hectares of private nature reserves.
– Voluntary nature conservation that takes the landowner’s goals into account is the most effective means of conservation. Both of the areas we are now applying for protection are large and unified entities that stand out from their surroundings and complement our protection network well. About 35 percent of our forestry land is now completely out of economic use, states Jarmo Korhonen in his press release.
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