Farmers fear new regional plan could threaten cultivation in Southwest Finland

Farmers in Finland’s Southwest Finland region fear that markings in a new regional plan could lead to costly protection measures and make their crops harder to sell, Yle reports.

The draft plan marks sections of flowing waterways that are particularly vulnerable to erosion and therefore critical to nutrient runoff into the Archipelago Sea. One of the marked sections runs alongside the fields of farmer Katja Kauppi in Lieto, by the Aurajoki River.

Kauppi is concerned that the marking could eventually require expensive water protection measures, making cultivation no longer profitable.

She is also worried that grain buyers could impose quality requirements based on where crops were grown. Kauppi fears a buyer might refuse to purchase grain grown next to a marked watercourse.

“That would be the worst-case scenario,” Kauppi said.

MTK Southwest Finland is calling for the watercourse markings to be removed from the draft plan. The organisation says they could affect agricultural subsidies and land values.

MTK Southwest Finland field manager Henna Takatalo said the organisation had discussed the issue with banks, which believed the markings could affect the value of farmland.

MTK also sees a risk that farmers would no longer receive compensation for voluntary water protection measures if the markings made such measures mandatory. Takatalo described this as a possible form of “grey protection”, a term used by MTK for situations in which the economic use of farmland or forest is prevented without a formal protection decision and without compensation to the landowner.

The Regional Council of Southwest Finland, which prepared the draft, says the markings do not impose any obligations on farmers.

“This is not a protection marking,” said Heidi Saaristo-Levin, the council’s director of planning.

According to the council, the erosion-sensitive sections were marked to show where water protection measures would be particularly effective. The markings could help direct funding and other measures to the areas through various protection programmes.

“The Archipelago Sea is so important that it must be treated as a special area,” Saaristo-Levin said. “This plan can identify the areas where resources should be targeted.”

Saaristo-Levin said the plan would not affect agricultural policy or related environmental subsidies. She also did not believe buyers would refuse grain grown in the area because of the regional plan, as information about erosion-sensitive areas had already been available before the draft was prepared.

The regional plan covering water bodies and natural resources is open for comments until the end of September. The new draft is due to be considered by the regional council next year.