Documentation of statistics forest protection

Statistical presentation

Data description

The set of statistics related to forest protection comprises data on statutory protected areas, biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests, and forests supporting the conservation of nature values in Finland, and the data are presented by region, by soil and protection category, and by area type.

Classification system

Statistics are compiled by soil and protection category, by area type, and by region.

In the forest protection statistics forest includes forest land and poorly productive forest land, which together form a wooded area, a forest. Forestry land includes area with no other primary purpose. It is not used for, for example, agriculture or construction. Forestry land includes area used for wood production and areas not used for wood production, including protected areas. The total area of forestry land in the statistics is based on the latest available results of the National Forest Inventory (NFI).

Protected forests in the statistics include the area of statutory protected areas and biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests.

The definitions and classifications in the statistics on forest protection are mainly based on the report “Plans for improving statistics on forest protection areas and METSO-statistics” (MMM2015:2) by the METSO-statistics team. Detailed definitions of area types can be found in the report. The basis for protected areas is the description by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008 (Dudley 2008).

Protected areas may be included in multiple area types simultaneously (for example in a nature conservation programme, Natura 2000 network, etc.). Each area is placed in the strictest category to prevent overlap in statistics.

The regional division in force at the time of compilation is applied in the statistics. In the time series of the statistics, changes in the regional boundaries reduce the comparability of the statistical data between regions.

Forest protection categories:

Statutory protected areas

1A) Nature reserves and sites reserved for nature conservation

The primary goal of nature reserves is the continuous preservation of nature. The protection methods of areas are based on laws and decrees, and on the government’s decisions on nature conservation programmes and sites. Forests in nature reserves cannot be used for wood production. Natural environments and traditional habitat types can be maintained and restored, and procedures for maintaining the natural ecosystem and restoring the natural development can be done within the financing.

1B) Other statutory protected areas

The goal of protected areas is the continuous conservation of nature values. The decisions on protection status of areas are based on statutes, and the restrictions on land use are based on decision made by ELY Centres, the Finnish Forest Centre, or management of the landowner organisation. In addition to nature maintenance, some protected area types allow careful fellings that do not endanger the conservation goals of the forests in the area.

1C) Fixed-term protected areas

The goal of protected areas is the conservation of nature values. Fixed-term protection status is based on an agreement between authorities and the landowner. The long-term goal of a renewable contract is the continuous conservation of the site. Forests of fixed-term protected areas cannot be used for wood production.

Protected biodiversity sites in commercial forests

2A) Special biodiversity sites in commercial forests

The goal of these sites is the conservation of biodiversity, and they are clearly outlined. Restrictions on forestry are based on the registration of forest reserves determined by the Finnish Forest Centre or on a decision by the management of the landowner organisation. Forests in special biodiversity sites are in principle not available for wood production. Selection fellings are possible to restore the natural development or to maintain the structural features of sites.

2B) Biodiversity sites in commercial forests in restricted forestry use

The goal of these sites is the conservation of biodiversity, and they are clearly outlined. Restrictions on forestry are based on the registration of forest reserves determined by the Finnish Forest Centre or on a decision by the management of the landowner organisation. In forests of biodiversity sites, felling that does not endanger the nature values is allowed.

The biodiversity sites in commercial forests -category matches the “other effective area-based conservation measures” mentioned in the biodiversity agreement’s goals of increasing the conservation area. The definition of sites in this category also follows the further defined instructions on areas considered as protected forests, agreed upon by MCPFE (Parviainen & Frank 2006, Parviainen & al. 2010). The current criteria of MCPFE are largely comparable with IUCN’s (2008) definition of a protected area.

Forests supporting the conservation of nature values

3) Other special areas in restricted forestry use

The primary goal of these special areas is something other than the conservation of nature values, and they are clearly outlined. Special areas are based on for example regional plans on land use or on a decision made by the management of the organisation owning the land. The goals of the areas and restrictions to forestry are defined in agreements on land use. Forests of special areas are in forestry use but use for research and recreation, hunting, subsistence economy, and the value as landscape restrict wood production. The most valuable areas of nature are excluded from the use of forestry.

Other special areas and their forests in restricted forestry use form an ecological entity, a so-called green infrastructure, connected to the hearts of protected forests.

Protected forests include land categorised as forest in statutory nature reserves (1A, 1B, and 1C) and biodiversity sites of forestry areas (2A and 2B).

Area types of forest protection

Areas reserved for forest protection are divided into area types by their function in forest protection.

Main categories of area types and their distribution to protection categories:

Statutory protected areas

1A Statutory nature reserves

National park (1A)
Strict nature reserve (1A)
Old-growth forest reserve (1A)
Mire reserve (1A)
Herb-rich forest reserve (1A)
Other nature reserve on state-owned land (1A)
Nature reserve founded based on a decision of Metsähallitus (1A)
Private protected area owned by Metsähallitus (1A)
Private nature reserve (1A)
Nature reserve in Åland islands (1A)

1A Sites reserved for nature conservation

Area under a nature conservation programme on state-owned land (1A)

Site implemented under the nature conservation act that is not included in the so-called old nature conservation programmes or old programmes of the Natura-network.

Site under the nature conservation programme of the current nature conservation act (for example the supplementary programme of mire conservation)

Area of the METSO-programme (1A)
Area reserved for nature conservation in land use plans, SL-marking on state-owned land (1A)
Area under a nature conservation programme on private land (1A)
A site under a supplementary programme of mire conservation on private land (1A) - no sites in 2019 statistics
Area reserved for nature conservation in land use plans, SL-marking on private land (1A)
Area reserved for a nature reserve in Åland (1A)

1B Other statutory protected areas

Other protected areas, no felling

Wilderness (1B)
Protected forest owned by Metsähallitus (public administrative duties) (1B)
State-owned forestry area, statutory protected area of a species (1B)

Demarcated area of an endangered species under the nature conservation act (NCA) §46 or a special protected species under §47 on state-owned land

State-owned forestry area, statutory protected area of a habitat type (1B)

Protected habitat type under NCA §29–30 or

a demarcated area for an important habitat under the Forest Act §10

Other protected site on state-owned land (1B)

Expansion of a region in the regional land use plan marked with S-marking not based on the nature conservation act

Demarcated area of a specially protected species on private land (1B)

Demarcated area of a locality of a species under NCA §47

Protected site of a habitat type on privately owned land (1B)

Demarcated area of a protected habitat type under NCA §29–30

Other statutory protected areas, cautious felling possible

State-owned hiking area, Natura 2000 (1B)

Sub-region included in the Natura-network (implementation method other than NCA)

State-owned forestry area, Natura 2000 (1B)

A site of the Natura-network (implementation method other than NCA)

Natura 2000 on private land (1B)

A site of the Natura-network (implementation method mostly other than NCA)

Demarcated area of a vital habitat type under the Forest Act on private land (1B)

Other protected areas in Ahvenanmaa

Natura 2000 in Åland (1B)

A site of the Natura-network (implementation method other than NCA)

Statutory protected area of a species/habitat type (1B)

Demarcated area of a species/habitat type under the natural conservation act or a vital habitat type under the forest act.

1C Fixed-term protection areas

Indefinite wildlife sanctuary following the section 25 of the Nature Conservation Act (1C)
Site to be covered by environmental aid under the Act on the Financing of Sustainable Forestry on private land (1C)

2A + 2B Biodiversity sites in commercial forests

Valuable forest habitats on state-owned land are excluded from forestry used or their forestry use is restricted by the management team of Metsähallitus or by local management when investigating the ecology of the area or making other plans. The restrictions are based on statutory Common Social Obligations of Metsähallitus and the policies of the environmental guide (Päivinen 2011). Correspondingly, valuable forest habitats with restricted forestry used are demarcated on private land or on land owned by forestry companies. Decisions on these demarcations are made by the Finnish Forest Centre or the management of the landowner organisation. Decisions on demarcation are registered in the geographic data systems of the Finnish Forest Centre or enterprises.

2A Special biodiversity sites in commercial forests, no forestry measures

State-owned forestry area, special biodiversity site, no felling (2A)

Protected forest owned by Metsähallitus (not transferred to the control of public administration duties)

so-called demarcation of dialogue and Forest Lapland processes

State-owned forestry area, special biodiversity site, selection cutting possible for nature management purposes (2A)

biodiversity site, nature site, ecological connection (Common Social Obligation or Environmental guide)

Special biodiversity site in private forest, no fellings or selection cutting possible for nature management purposes (2A)

2B Biodiversity sites in commercial forests, restricted forestry use

State-owned forestry area, biodiversity site, restricted forestry use (2B)

Site under METSO-programme

A site to increase biodiversity, occurrence of an endangered species, ecological connection (Common Social Obligation or Environmental Guide)

Biodiversity site in private forest, restricted forestry use (2B)

Habitat type under METSO-programme or other valuable environment of forests

Forests supporting the conservation of nature values

3 Other special sites, restricted forestry use

State-owned hiking area, outside the Natura 2000 -network (3)
Recreation area/forest owned by Metsähallitus (3)
State-owned forestry area, special recreational or environmental value (3)
State-owned forestry area, special wilderness or reindeer pasture value (3)
State-owned forestry area, special landscape, game, or cultural value (3)
State-owned forestry area, forest under research agreement (3)
Forest under research agreement in Åland (3)

Sector coverage

The statistics comprise data on statutory protected areas, biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests, and forests supporting the conservation of nature values in special areas by county, area and protection category, and area type. Given areas cover area in land and in water.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Forestry land is categorised based on its capability to produce wood as follows:

1) Forest land includes land with growth per hectare of at least one cubic metre per year, using the instructed rotation period.

2) Poorly productive forest land includes land with growth per hectare of less than 1 but more than 0.1 cubic metres per year.

3) Unproductive forest land includes land with growth per hectare of less than 0.1 cubic metres per year. Only individual trees, which are often stunted or shrubby, grow on unproductive forest land.

4) Other land includes other land in use of forestry (forest roads, fixed storage and plot areas of forestry, gravel pits included in the forest, fields with wildlife, etc.).

Statistical unit

Data is collected from the state and from various forest organisations.

Statistical population

The statistics include information on statutory protected areas and biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests and forests supporting the conservation of nature values, by region, land and protection category and type of area. The areas shown include land and water areas.

Unit of measure

Areas in the statistics are presented as hectares.

Reference period

Disseminations are based on data from the statistical period.

Time coverage

The statistics on forest protection have been compiled based on the situation at the beginning of the year and from 2016 the statistics have been based on the same classification prepared by METI working group.

Earlier forest protection statistics have been compiled based on the status at the end of 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008. These statistics are based on the classification prepared by SUTI (2002), a work group for unifying forest protection statistics as regards categories. The statistics from year 2016 are comparable to the earlier statistics, but the old categories are not fully equivalent to the new ones.

Frequency of disseminations

Approximately every three years.

Legal acts and other agreements

The statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014), the Act on Food and Natural Resource Statistics (562/2014), and the Statistics Act (280/2004).

More information: Statistics legislation

Statistical data protection

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

Release policy

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00. Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Release calendar

The publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar holds data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Relevance

User satisfaction

Feedback is collected from the users of the statistics, especially when revising the statistics. Feedback is also received directly. In addition, we investigated the wishes of users for developing the statistics in the autumn of 2021 and beginning of 2022, when updating the work programme for the Natural Resources Institute Finland. We follow the received feedback and take it into consideration in developing the statistics.

Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy and reliability

Statistics on Forest protection are compiled according to the principles and classifications presented by the METI working group (2015). Statistics are revised when new protection area types are created or when changes to protection categories are made. The Parks and Wildlife unit of Metsähallitus also provides State land covers the majority of the total area of protected areas. The State also manages data on protection areas on private land (including areas based on the legislation of the Natura 2000 network) based on the Nature Conservation Act.

If forests owned by municipalities, cities or forest funds contain biodiversity conservation sites (categories 2A and 2B) or forests supporting the conservation of natural values (category 3), they are excluded from the statistics. Data on these sites are not yet available. Although these sites are the most important missing data in terms of area, they represent a small proportion of the total area of forestry land in Finland. If protected areas of categories 1A or 1B are present in the forests of municipalities, cities or forest funds, they are included in the statistics on protected forest areas.

Regional and local reservations in non-state-owned lands, that are indicated as sites of nature conservation in the regional plans for land use, are not included in statistics on Forest protection. Most of the SL-markings are however directed at existing nature reserves or areas reserved for unrealised nature conservation programmes (including Natura 2000 network), so they are included in the forest protection statistics through some other avenue. No comprehensive data has been collected on other types of protection markings on land use plans.

Fixed archaeological sites are protected sites under the Antiquities Act. Antiquities protected by law include cairns, cemeteries, settlements, rock paintings, sacrificial stones, other places of worship, and hill forts. Digging, covering, and touching areas with antiquities is forbidden. Due to the Antiquities Act not always restricting forest treatment in the area, these areas have been excluded from the statistics. Additionally, these sites do not fulfil the requirements of a conservation area.

Statutory protected areas (1A and 1B) owned by forest industry companies, biodiversity sites (2A and 2B) and forests supporting the conservation of nature values (3) protected by the decision of enterprises are included in the statistics.

Division to land categories was not available for all area types when compiling forest protection statistics. The methodology for these areas was as follows:

1) Division into land categories for areas without land category (sites that have not been inventoried yet) was done using the multisource-NFI.

2) Protected areas in Åland: the total areas were divided into counties using the average division into counties in Åland.

In the statistics on protected areas, other land includes regions with no available data on area by land category, and it was not produced using multisource NFI (total approximately 2,800 ha). State-owned areas and privately-owned statutory protected areas (excluding vital habitats under the forest act and areas under Kemera-agreements) under the “other land” category include land in other land categories (including agricultural land and land for construction) inside protected areas. Approximately 11,500 hectares of the total area of protection categories 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, and 2B is included in other land.

Unrenewed or otherwise expired agreements were not included in the statistics on the area of Kemera-agreements on sites to be covered by environmental aid.

Data on protection sites on land owned by forest industry companies was only available for the whole of Finland. These were divided into counties using the same proportions as the member companies of the Finnish Forest Industries own land in each county. Data on Natura 2000 areas was not given separately.

Timeliness, coherence and comparability

Timeliness

The statistics are based on the situation at the beginning of the year.

Comparability - geographical

Areas of conservation in the Forest protection statistics are not comparable with statistical data using the international MCPFE-classifications, which were compiled earlier, due to differences in the definitions of forests, classifications, time of classifications, and data sources.

Comparability - over time

Statistics on forest protection are comprised approximately every three years. In general, the area of founded protected areas grow over time. The areas of regions reserved for unrealised nature conservation programmes and Natura 2000 regions under the nature conservation act diminish as these regions are acquired by the state or are used as state-owned or private nature reserves.