Flora and Fauna
Old forests in Finnish Lapland preserved
(Barents Observer, 11 November 2009) -- An agreement between a Finnish state-owned forestry company and the environmental organization Greenpeace has led to the preservation of large areas of old forest in Northern Finland. After reaching an agreement with a state-owned forestry company on preservation of old forests in Lapland, Greenpeace Nordic has decided to withdraw from Finnish Lapland and move its target area to Indonesia. According to the website Forest.fi, a longstanding dispute between state-owned forestry company Metsähallitus and Greenpeace concerning old-growth forests in Central, or Forest Lapland was over when an agreement was reached in the end of October. The agreement covers some 44,200 hectares of forest land. Of them, 6,600 hectares will remain available for normal multiple-use forestry. 2,700 hectares remain in restricted forestry use, and 35,000 hectares are excluded from forestry operations. The solution prevents future felling of 1.7 million cubic meters of wood. The final agreement was reached in a steering group which consists of, in addition to Metsähallitus and Greenpeace, the Regional Council of Lapland, Lapland Regional Environment Centre, Finnish Reindeer Owners’ Association, and representatives from the forest industry and the Sámi Parliament.
Posted 11 November 2009; 4:13:30 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Conservation and Wildlife, Environment and Landscape, Finland, Flora and Fauna, Nordic Region, November09
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