Management and Use of Protected Areas

Protected area management comprises all activities that the manager of the protected area is doing in the protected area or outside its boundaries to fulfil the goals of the protected area.

Next to the ecological management operations, the management activies include also the construction and maintenance of hiking facilities, nature interpretation and production of information material, user guidance, and supervision. Also studies as part of the management planning are part of this entity.

Principles of Protected Area Management in Finland

Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland follows the guidelines called the Protected Area Management Principles. The guidelines define the protected area types on state-owned lands, their protection goals and the general principles to be followed in the protected area management.

The protected area management principles are partly determined directly by national legislation and partly by Parks & Wildlife Finland (P&WF) as the landowner and site manager. Many of the principles are also national and regional best practice that has been developed and agreed over time.

The management guidelines have been updated and published in 2023. This publication is presently available only in Finnish, but the previous 2016 version is available also in English.

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