Finland proposes narrower boreal forest definition for EU restoration rules

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland has proposed a change to the definition of boreal natural forests that would remove up to 65 percent of them from the scope of the European Union’s restoration regulation, according to Yle.

Environmental groups have sharply criticised the proposal. Greenpeace Finland director Touko Sipiläinen called it “the biggest swindle in Finnish nature conservation history,” arguing that the change would exclude precisely the forests most important for halting biodiversity loss.

The dispute centres on forests such as a roughly 90-year-old spruce stand at Evo in Hämeenlinna. The area is part of the Natura 2000 network and currently classified as boreal natural forest, a habitat type the EU considers a priority. Under the ministry’s proposal, it would be redefined as commercial forest and could be logged.

About 78,000 hectares of boreal natural forest exist in Finland. The ministry’s change would exempt around 51,000 hectares from restoration requirements. The Ministry of the Environment has said the area is negligible from a forestry perspective.

The state-owned forestry company Metsähallitus backs the ministry, saying the forests in question are commercial forests where harvesting must be allowed. The restoration plan, required by the EU regulation that took effect in 2024, is expected to be published next week.

Sipiläinen said the government had previously failed in its decision on old-growth forest protection, and that the current proposal represented a missed opportunity to remedy that.