Nature

According to environmental organisations, this is an exceptionally valuable bird forest in eastern Uusimaa. Metsähallitus has announced that it will clear-cut 7.5 hectares of forest in the area.

Greenpeace, Luonto-Liitto and Elokapina are trying to stop Metsähallitus from logging in Lapinjärvi Latokartano. Metsähallitus plans to clear-cut 7.5 hectares and thin 1.5 hectares of forest in Lapinjärvi Latokartano this winter. It may help to know that the size of the logging area is about one and a half hectares, including the street area of Helsinki’s Senate Square.

In case of forest machines, activists from Elokapina’s Forest Guard, Nature League’s forest group and Greenpeace will be on site to watch the area. The aim is to get the logging cancelled and the area permanently protected to prevent loss of wildlife.

– You don’t want that kind of foreign material in your logging machine or industrial processes. We have taken the line that this is not mischief or mischief because we have made it clear and marked the ropes. They can be collected away if they wish.

“An obvious target where protection should start”

The state’s plot in Lapinjärvi is, as a whole, quite large for a southern Finnish forest, about 700 hectares. The current 20-hectare nature reserve is located in the middle of the plot.

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Now environmental organisations try to prevent logging in Uusimaa: 500 metres of rope hung on Metsähallitus treesRead More »

The Administrative Court of Northern Finland has rejected an application by the Finnish Nature Conservation Union’s Lapland District to suspend logging in Aalistunturi and two other areas in Lapland.

The Administrative Court of Northern Finland has issued an interim decision on an appeal against a ban on logging on the Aalistunturi mountain in Kolari, Miekojärvi lake in Pello and the Southwest Lapland wilderness area in Rovaniemi and Ylitorno.

The Administrative Court rejected the Nature Conservation Union’s request to suspend the logging until the Union’s appeal has been heard by the Administrative Court and a final decision has been reached.

SLL’s Lapland district is calling for areas to be protected from logging in order to halt the loss of biodiversity in Finland’s forests. The objective of preserving biodiversity is also enshrined in the government programme.

In July of last year, Lapland’s ely center rejected the nature conservation association’s application to ban logging in the area in question. The Nature Conservation Union appealed against the Ely Center’s decision to the Northern Finland Administrative Court.

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Administrative Court: logging on the Aalistunturi mountain may continueRead More »

Since 2004, the Fishing Community has been taking on various water body restoration projects. The Sustainability Recognition Award was given for the many environmental actions of the Fishing Community.

The Ylikiimingi Fishing Community has received the Oulu Region Environment Agency’s Sustainable Development Recognition Award for 2022.

The Ylikiimingi fishing community received high praise in the citation.

The Ylikiimingi fishing community is seen as having made long-term and determined efforts to promote biodiversity and restoration and to enable the diverse use of water bodies.

Since 2004, the Finnish Fisheries Agency has already taken on various restoration projects for water bodies. Renovation sites have included Vepsänjärvi, Vaaralampi, Tervalampi, Juopulinjärvi and Jolosjärvi.

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Ylikiimingi Fishing Community receives recognition award for its determined efforts to restore water bodiesRead More »

Swedish wind power company OX2 says it has started planning a new offshore wind farm off the coast of Ostrobothnia. The company wants to build 100 wind turbines south-west of Vaasa.

Wind power company OX2 has started planning a new offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Bothnia. The company says it plans to build up to 100 wind turbines on the coast of Ostrobothnia, south-west of Vaasa, about 30 km north-west of Kaskis.

The project goes by the name of Storm. OX2 received a research licence for the project from the Council of State last year.

According to Lamberg, the offshore wind farm would produce around six terawatt hours of electricity per year.

Next, the company will start large-scale studies and the environmental impact assessment procedure.

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Another new offshore wind farm planned for the coast of OstrobothniaRead More »

The Rotarians’ charity event Silakkasoutu donated €6 000 to the Finnish Environment Foundation.

In October, the Rotarians’ charity event Silakkasoutu brought more than 200 people to Töölönlahti Bay to row church boats.

The event raised €6 000 for the Baltic Sea. The funds raised were donated to the Finnish Environment Institute Syke at an event in Riihimäki to be used for the diving equipment of the research vessel Aranda.

The research vessel Aranda is searching for wartime wrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which may still contain harmful substances such as oil-based fuels and lubricants.

Together with explosives in munitions (Unexploded ordnance, UXO) and chemical weapons dumped in the sea, they can pose a growing threat to the Baltic Sea.

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More than 200 people took to the oars and rowed church boats to raise thousands of euros for the Baltic SeaRead More »

The current regulation is to be renewed because it has led to excessively high water levels in summer. In addition, summer and autumn rains have allowed water levels to rise too high too often.

Following a request from the Water Law Administrator, the North Ostrobothnia Environment Agency will prepare a new regulation guideline for Lake Oijärvi in the Kuivajoki river basin in the municipality of Ii during 2023.

The current regulation was introduced in 2012. The aim of the directive has been to improve the ecological status of Lake Oijärvi by ensuring sufficient spring flows and to prevent the lake’s water level from falling too low, which accelerates the overgrowth of the banks. The directive has also aimed to achieve more natural flow conditions in the Kuivajoki River, which flows from Lake Oijärvi. As a result of the control measure, the water level has been above the target level, especially during the summer period.

The amount of feedback received by the Agency on the regulatory guidance has increased. It has been observed that the current regulation leads to excessively high summer water levels, which can be detrimental to, among other things, birdlife in the area. In addition, summer and autumn rains have allowed water levels to rise too high too often. There has also been feedback from the Dry River arm of the river about excessively rapid flow fluctuations.

Ely-keskus wants to look at the regulation of Oijärvi as a broader entity and find a solution that would increase the benefits of regulation and reduce the resulting disadvantages. In connection with this, Ely-Keskus orders a report from a consultant on whether regulation could be implemented by converting the current remotely operated regulation dam into a bottom dam, in which case regulation could be stopped.

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New regulation for Lake Ii Oijärvi to be drafted: complete cessation of regulation under considerationRead More »

In contrast, the share of Kemera support for forestry work decreased clearly in North Karelia compared to the previous year.

Forest owners in North Karelia are interested in protecting the environment.

Last year, forest owners protected 127 hectares of forest for a period of ten years. The most common protected areas were groves and copses, areas close to watercourses and biodiversity-rich woodlands.

The Forestry Commission paid compensation of around €300 000 for the protection. The state has increased the amount of environmental aid throughout the country for this year.

The share of camera support applied for forestry work has decreased in the province.

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Forest owners voluntarily protected more than 120 hectares of forestRead More »

The 2020 visitor numbers were missed by some margin.

It has been another busy year for hiking in Perho’s Salamajärvi National Park, says Metsähallitus.

Visitor numbers to the park rose to more than 25 000 last year, almost 3 000 more than in 2021.

However, the figures for the pandemic year 2020 were slightly below, with more than 600 visitors. In that year, the popularity of nature hiking increased in all national parks in the country.

Throughout the country, the number of visitors to national parks decreased slightly. The total number of visits decreased by 12 percent compared to last year.

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Another busy year of hiking in Salamajärvi National Park in Perho – the area attracted more than 25 000 visitors last yearRead More »

Metsähallitus has also noted the significant economic impact of the Punkaharju nature reserve.

The Punkaharju nature reserve and research forests bring significant jobs and money to the region.

According to Metsähallitus statistics, the Punkaharju nature reserve and research forests provide around 200 man-years of work for the area. The total revenue impact of the nature reserve is estimated at EUR 24 million per year.

National parks and other recreational areas generate local income through the use of services such as accommodation, restaurants and programmes by hikers.

Punkaharju had almost 140,000 visits last year. For the sake of comparison, the employment effect of Repovede National Park, which has the same size and number of visits, is only almost 40 person-years. It produces a total revenue effect of 4.5 million euros locally for the region.

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Small Punkaharju nature reserve generates many times more local jobs and income than Repovesi National ParkRead More »

Visits to Lapland’s national parks were higher last year than before the pandemic, but fell short of the 2021 levels. The new Salla National Park also attracted visitors.

According to Metsähallitus, the most popular national park in Finland was, as usual, Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, which was visited nearly 600 000 times last year. The first year of 2022 was historically busy, with more visits in January and March than ever before.

The Urho Kekkonen National Park, located in Savukoski, Sodankylä and Inari, was the second most visited national park in Finland with over 400 000 visitors.

Visits to Lapland’s national parks continue to increase, if we look at the longer-term trend. Hikers, cyclists and other visitors have discovered Lapland’s summer in a whole new way over the past ten years, says Metsähallitus in a press release.

National parks also had a significant impact on the local economy.

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The most popular national park in Finland last year was Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park – other national parks in Lapland also ranked wellRead More »