Agreement saves 35 000 hectares of intact forest in Lapland

Eight high conservation value forest areas are saved from logging, among them Peurakaira in Sodankylä. These are the largest intact forests outside protected areas south of Inari municipality.

- This is a great result for biodiversity and intact forest landscapes in Lapland. There are many stakeholders behind this agreement, such as the Regional Council of Lapland and forest industry, and reaching a result has required considering the views of all participants. The agreement saves the major part of eight wonderful old growth forest areas, which is significant for many threatened species, says Greenpeace forest campaigner Sini Harkki.

- Reaching a result was possible because the customers of the forest industry have made it clear that they do not want to source from high conservation value forests. On the other hand local interests like reindeer herding also support the preservation of old growth forests, Harkki says.

The reached agreement puts an end to a major Greenpeace campaign on the intact forest landscapes in the municipalities of Kittilä, Sodankylä, Savukoski and Salla. The work of Greenpeace continues in Lapland by supporting the conservation of herding forests of Inari reindeer herders and by opposing the plans of Fennovoima to build a nuclear power plant in Simo.

- We are particularly happy for the reindeer herding cooperatives whose important reindeer forests were saved from logging. Old growth forests are important for reindeer herding and we hope that this agreement encourages Metsähallitus and cooperatives to a good cooperation also in other parts of Lapland.

Greenpeace, Luonto-Liitto and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation defined the eight areas in a report Intact Forest Landscapes of Forest Lapland (in Finnish) in 2006. These are exceptionally intact and uniform areas of old growth forest, marsh and fells. Large intact areas are important for threatened species and mitigation of climate change. Less than five percent of Finnish forests remain in natural state.

Greenpeace works for preserving the diversity of forests all over the world. Saving natural forests is ever more important as saving the carbon storage of forests is necessary for stopping dangerous climate change. Boreal forests are a significant carbon storage that renews slowly. Thus the reached agreement is also important for the mitigation of climate change

Joint press release