This page contains questions about the inventory project for old-growth and primary forests.

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Conservation of old-growth and primary forests:

Q: Why is it important to protect old-growth and primary forests?

A: Under the EU Biodiversity Strategy, Finland is committed to protecting old-growth and primary forests and, with regard to state-owned land, this applies to forests managed by Metsähallitus.

Old-growth forests are particularly valuable for biodiversity. If a forest has a long continuum of old-growth trees and decaying trees, it will have maintained a habitat for species dependent on these structural features.

Q: Who decides on conservation, how quickly will areas meeting the criteria be protected and what impacts will the protection have on land use?

A: The final protection decision is made by Finnish Parliament. This is an economically significant decision. Because the inventory of potential protected sites takes at least two field seasons (2024-2026), no conservation decision will be made any earlier than this. In accordance with the precautionary principle, valuable habitats likely to meet the criteria have been excluded from use.

Areas of sufficient size that meet the criteria are strictly protected, i.e. nature reserves under the Nature Conservation Act are established. 

The new nature sites found in the inventory that are in line with the Metsähallitus Environmental Guidelines will also be excluded from forestry operations. Nature sites include herb-rich forests, primary forests and decaying heath forests, sunlit areas, riparian forests and other special sites.

The ecological network on state-owned lands comprises nature reserves and the most valuable nature and special sites in multiple-use forests, as well as the ecological corridors connecting them, which allow plant and animal species to spread. Forestry operations are restricted in these areas, or the areas are excluded from commercial forestry use.

Q: Will there be enough wood for industry if a large number of old-growth/primary forests are protected? Will there be an increase in timber imports?

A: It depends on the level of the criteria. In any case, the oldest forests with the largest volume of decaying wood are already excluded from use and no significant impacts are likely.

If the criteria require that managed forests be protected, this may affect the amount of wood available to industry and possibly also the need to import timber.

Conservation criteria:

Q: How has Metsähallitus been involved in preparing the criteria?

A: The criteria for old-growth and primary forests have been prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The framework for preparation of national criteria was prepared and published by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Metsähallitus did not participate in the preparatory work. The SYKE and Luke draft framework was presented to the METSO monitoring working group, with Metsähallitus also commenting on the proposals.

Q: What will happen, for example, to areas proposed for protection by the Luonnonmetsäryhmä (Natural forest group) or areas proposed by Greenpeace for protection in December 2023 if these forests do not meet the national criteria for old-growth and/or primary forests?

A: Stopping biodiversity loss is a vital common goal. In addition to protected areas, nature management measures that are carried out as part of conventional forest management, such as leaving retention trees in place, conserving decaying wood and increasing mixed-species stands, are essential in this respect.

If the proposed sites do not meet these EU criteria for old-growth and primary forests, they will also be examined from other perspectives and their use will be planned on this basis. We take into account, for example, the guidelines given in the Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd. Environmental Guidelines and act in accordance with them.  

It should be kept in mind that these criteria focus on old-growth and primary forests as meant by the European Commission. It should be noted that the protection of valuable habitats is progressing simultaneously by other means.

Q: When confirmation of the criteria was delayed, did Metsähallitus comply with the precautionary principle regarding felling in potential old-growth or primary forest areas?

A: The key criteria for old-growth forests are the amount and quality of deadwood and the age of living trees. The criteria proposal was published in June 2024 and issued with a statement until August. A Government resolution on the criteria was adopted on 20 March 2025.

Before final confirmation, areas likely to meet the criteria were excluded from use.

Inventories:

Q: Why did Metsähallitus start field inventories already in 2024, even though the national criteria for defining old-growth and primary forests had not yet been established? The criteria were not adopted until March 2025.

A: The field season is very short in Finland. The inventory experts had to start surveying the field so that we could carefully inspect the destinations to support decision-making. The EU expects the mapping of old-growth forests on state-owned land to be completed by mid-2025.

Based on the criteria set by the EU, inventories could be started even though detailed information on national limit values for forest age and decaying wood had not yet been established. The site-specific data are recorded in map files and will be compared with the established national criteria. Inventories were started at sites reported by volunteer nature surveyors, as field measurements would have been carried out there in any case.

An external party evaluates the implementation of our inventory.

Q: What are the current field measurements based on?

A: The inventories carried out by experts are based on our inventory guidelines, which can be found on the Inventory work in practice page. It is based particularly on Commission guidelines for defining, mapping, monitoring and strictly protecting EU primary and old-growth forests, a Luke and SYKE report on the review of national criteria, and a request for statement on the criteria for old-growth forests in Finland (VN/7491/2024). The national criteria were adopted in March 2025. The criteria limits did not change, so the inventory guidelines have remained the same.

The site-specific data are recorded in map files and will be compared with the adopted national criteria.

Q: How are inventories carried out?

A: The inventory experts will measure, for example, the age of trees and the volume of standing and fallen decaying trees. The prevalence of snags and deadwood trees will be investigated. Possible tracks of earlier forest management methods, such as stumps, ditches and trails, will also be sought visually. The guidelines for inventory experts can be found on the Inventory work in practice page.

Q: How long will the inventories take and what is the scope of areas being inventoried?

A: There are an estimated 350,000 hectares of areas to be inventoried, approximately 87% of which are in Lapland. The number of areas to be inventoried will be specified as the work progresses. Inventories will take an estimated three field seasons, i.e. 2024–2026. The last inventory will be carried out in the Sámi Homeland Area in 2026.

Q: Can the expertise and impartiality of the experts be trusted?

A: Yes. Inventory experts collect measurable data in the forest. The most important data are the quantity and quality of dead trees and the age of living trees, which are used to make decisions on protected areas.

Q: How are prior inventories (e.g. Luonnonmetsäryhmä (Natural forest group) reports) taken into account and why are they not taken into account as such? Why is the same work being done twice?

A: We inventoried areas that the Luonnonmetsäryhmä (Primary forest group) proposed for protection. The map coordinates are obtained using this data. In order to make a decision on the protection of old-growth forests, we need measurement-based map data on the key structural features of forests, including the number of dead trees and the age of trees. Metsähallitus does not have all the map coordinates of areas inventoried by the Natural Forests of Sápmi working group or information on their valuable structural features.

Q: Why are inventories not carried out as quickly as possible? After all, felling in primary forests can keep going for longer and longer.

A: The area being inventoried is immense, possibly covering even more than 350,000 hectares. The field season (i.e. the snow-free season) is short in Finnish conditions. In addition, the inventory focuses on Lapland, where the field season is shorter than in Southern Finland. In Lapland in particular, it was not possible to complete inventories during one field season.

In accordance with the precautionary principle, sites likely to meet the criteria have been excluded from use.

Further information:

• Download link for publication “Commission guidelines for defining, mapping, monitoring and strictly protecting EU primary and old-growth forests”
• Vanhojen metsien kriteerit Suomessa (Statement request on the criteria for old-growth forests in Finland) (in Finnish) (Lausuntopyyntö VN/7491/2024)
• Luonnontilaiset metsät ja vanhat metsät Suomessa: Euroopan komission ohjeet ja kansallinen tarkastelu (Primary and old-growth forests in Finland: European Commission guidelines and national review) (in Finnish) (Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja 2/2024)
• Kansalliset kriteerit vanhoille metsille on hyväksytty (National criteria for old-growth forests approved) (in Finnish) (MMM, tiedote 20.3.2025)