Agreement reached in Forest Lapland dispute
Published 27 October 2009
Today an agreement was reached between regional actors and Greenpeace in a dispute of several years concerning old wilderness-like forests in the forest areas of Central Lapland. Discussions have been going on between the local municipalities, reindeer owners’ co-operatives, Metsähallitus, local sawmills and Greenpeace concerning the future land use in so-called Forest Lapland map areas presented by environmental organisations in 2006. The negotiations are a part of Metsähallitus’s interim review on natural resource planning in Eastern and Western Lapland, which has just started. The sections in most natural state in these areas will be permanently excluded from forestry by Metsähallitus’s own decision. The process will not convert them into protected areas, however, nor will any other new usage restrictions be applied.
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.
Region Mayor Esko Lotvonen, the chairperson of the steering group, characterises the negotiation process as a new beginning: “It’s remarkable that all the parties for whom these areas are important were willing to participate in the negotiations. The result is a compromise which provides a reasonable operational basis for all the stakeholders as regards future needs for changes in land use.”
Foreign customers of the forest industry have been concerned if fellings have taken place in Lapland’s natural forests.This solution will restore the reputation of forest products from Lapland in the European market. According to Sini Harkki from Greenpeace, the agreement concludes Greenpeace’s campaign for unprotected wilderness areas in Central Lapland and thus completes the organisation’s most important campaign in Lapland during the last few years. Sections in most natural state in these areas will be set aside from forestry operations. Restricted forestry use will be allowed in some areas, and some will stay open for regular forestry, taking into account the needs of multiple use. Also the Lapland Herding Co-operative, North Salla Herding Co-operative, Kyrö Herding Co-operative, and Kuivasalmi Herding Co-operatives took part in the negotiations and the agreement, as they all consider the areas to be important reindeer grazing grounds.
The result of the negotiations will be appended as a component to the on-going Eastern and Western Lapland Natural Resource Plan’s interim review. The jointly agreed result makes 20,700 hectares of forest land previously in forestry use off-limits for any future forestry operations. Some 62,000 hectares of the map areas are poorly productive land, open peatland, and hilltop areas, which have not been in forestry use even up to this day. Additionally, 14,200 hectares of productive forest land have previously been set aside from forestry use by Metsähallitus’s own decisions, under the status of a valuable biotope or an important reindeer grazing area.
Of the 44,200 hectares of forest land in the map areas covered in this agreement, 6,600 hectares will remain available for normal multiple-use forestry, 2,700 hectares in restricted forestry use, and 35,000 hectares are excluded from forestry operations. The solution makes 1.7 million cubic metres of wood off-limits for future fellings. The effect on annual felling possibilities will be assessed more accurately in the calculations for the natural resource plans, but excluding mature forests from forestry operations will in part impact raw material resources critical to the sawmilling industry. Approximately 2% of the wood resources in the state-owned forests areas in the municipalities of Kittilä, Sodankylä, Savukoski and Salla were set aside from forestry. Hannu Virranniemi, who represented the forest industry of northern Finland in the steering group, comments that the agreement aimed at a compromise which would not jeopardise the wood supply of sawmills, but would improve the image of the exporting industry and thus safeguard the overall preconditions of success for the forest industry in northern Finland.
“The favourable age structure of Lapland’s forests made this solution possible. Forests regenerated in the large clearcut sites of the 1950s and 1960s provide good possibilities for thinning and already even regeneration fellings. The vitality of forests in Lapland is also good. The felling possibilities are increasing,” says Regional Director Kii Korhonen.
The demand for timber has recently been lower due to the recession, but it is clear that the significance of wood as a renewable resource is increasing both for the construction and wood product industries and energy production. Despite this, paper making will continue to consume most of the timber, and the international image of the paper from the Kemi mills is a major issue for all of Lapland.
The negotiation process is a continuation of the Old-growth Forest Conservation Programme for Northern Finland, expansions of national parks, Metsähallitus’s own land-use decisions, and the dialogue with environmental organisations and the Nellim agreement. An agreement has now been reached in this prolonged international dispute, which affected the competitiveness of forest products from Lapland. Local reconciliation of the uses of forests and co-operation between reindeer herders’ associations, tourist entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders will naturally continue even in future.
Reference areas
For further information, please contact:
Kii Korhonen, Regional Director, Metsähallitus, tel. +358 40 300 861
Esko Lotvonen, Region Mayor, Regional Council of Lapland, tel. +358 40 231 096
Sini Harkki, forest campaigner, Greenpeace , tel. +358 50 582 1107