Forest protection 1.1.2022

On 1 January 2022, a total of 2.94 million hectares of Finland’s forests were protected – 13 per cent of the forest area. The area of protected forests increased by 57,000 hectares from 2019.

• At the beginning of 2022, Finland had a total of 2.94 million hectares of protected forests. This area consisted of forests in statutory protected areas (2.46 million hectares) and biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests (0.48 million hectares).
• Compared with the situation at the beginning of 2019, the protected forest area has increased by 57,000 hectares, of which statutory protected areas accounted for 41,000 and biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests 16,000 hectares. Protected forests continued to make up 13 per cent of the forest area.
• The majority of Finland’s protected forests fall wholly outside the scope of forestry measures. These forests are located at nature conservation sites established under the Nature Conservation Act, in areas designated to be established as nature conservation sites in conservation programmes, and in wilderness areas. At the beginning of 2022, protected forests falling wholly outside the scope of forestry measures covered 2.27 million hectares, accounting for ten per cent of Finland’s forest area. Of this area, forest land made up 54 per cent (1.23 million hectares) and poorly productive forest land 46 per cent (1.04 million hectares).
• Northern Finland – the regions of Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu – accounted for three quarters, or 2.29 million hectares, of Finland’s protected forests. This means that 20 per cent of all forests in Northern Finland are protected. In Northern Finland, protected forest land covered 1.16 and poorly productive forest land 1.13 million hectares. Of these, 1.89 million hectares fell wholly outside the scope of forestry measures.
• In the statistics, other regions are included in Southern Finland where six per cent of forests, or 0.65 million hectares, were protected. Of these, 0.38 million hectares were wholly outside the scope of forestry measures. In the south, forest land accounted for 85 per cent (0.54 million hectares) of the protected forest area, a significantly larger part than in the north. Of the protected forests, poorly productive forest land covered 0.11 million hectares.
• Part of the area of conservation sites is located outside forests. In addition to forests, forestry land includes unproductive land and other forestry land. With regard to forestry land, 4.78 million hectares were protected, accounting for 18 per cent of the forestry land area. Of this, statutory protected areas made up 4.10 and biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests 0.68 million hectares.

The area of various forests supporting the conservation of nature values totalled 0.42 million hectares at the beginning of 2022. They are not classified as protected forests in the statistics.

Luke compiles forest protection statistics every three years, and the statistics reflect the protection situation at the beginning of the statistical year. In the statistics, forests mean the total area of forest land and poorly productive forest land in accordance with Finland’s national definition of forests. The difference between forest land and poorly productive forest land is the tree growth rate, which is lower in poorly productive forest land. Combined, these constitute the total area covered with trees, i.e. forests.

The forest area in accordance with the Finnish definition is very close to the national forest area defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and used in international statistics (a difference of 1.7 per cent). International protection statistics apply the FAO’s definition. If a single area is part of several conservation programmes, it will be recorded in the statistics in accordance with the strictest conservation category applied to the area.

Explanations for graphics:
1A+1B+1C Statutory protected areas, total
1A Nature reserves and sites reserved for nature conservation
1BEH Other statutory protected areas, no fellings
1BH Other statutory protected areas, cautious fellings possible
1C Fixed-term protection areas on privately owned land
2A+2B Biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests, total
2A Biodiversity conservation sites in commercial forests, no forestry measures
2B Biodiversity sites in commercial forests, restricted forestry use
3 Forests supporting conservation of nature values, restricted forestry use