National Parks are Finland’s Natural Treasures
National parks are over-1,000-hectare protected areas, which are also natural sights open to everyone. Their primary purpose is to ensure the diversity of Finnish nature. National parks are established by law on state-owned lands.
The natural features and landscape in national parks are typical of Finland, but they are also a nationally and internationally valuable part of our nature. They have within them national landscapes and other natural sights.
There were 37 national parks in Finland. Two of them, Bothnian Sea and Sipoonkorpi are quite new, established in 2011. The combined area of Finland´s national parks is 9,789 sq. km. All the national parks are managed by Metsähallitus.
National parks are used for outdoor recreation, while having rules and regulations to ensure that this does not hinder nature conservation. An easy way to start an excursion in a national park is to visit a visitor or nature centre in the area. There are visitor and nature centres in or near several of the national parks. Guides and exhibits at the centres provide useful tips on how to make the excursion as successful as possible.
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