Jukka Jääskeläinen convicted of nature conservation crime for marking trees for flying squirrel

Jukka Jääskeläinen was convicted of a nature conservation crime for assisting a forest professional in marking trees for a flying squirrel before an open clear-cutting operation in spring 2021.

The Central Finland District Court sentenced Jääskeläinen and a Metsä Group employee to day fines and ordered Jääskeläinen to forfeit over €30,000 in timber sale proceeds as unlawful gain. The ruling is not yet legally binding as Jääskeläinen has appealed.

Jääskeläinen maintains his innocence, stating he sold the logging rights to Metsä Group and that the company followed the approved forest use notification. He criticized the supervisory authority’s delayed response and called for clearer guidelines on protecting flying squirrel habitats.

Metsä Group acknowledged a procedural error, saying logging began prematurely without sufficient guidance from authorities regarding the protected species site.

The flying squirrel is protected under Finland’s Nature Conservation Act, which prohibits damaging or destroying its breeding and resting habitats. Responsibility for protecting such habitats during logging rests with landowners, logging rights holders, and logging planners.

East Finland University emeritus professor of criminal and procedural law Matti Tolvanen noted that criminal liability depends on an individual’s awareness of the flying squirrel presence. He emphasized that landowners must ensure professionals comply with conservation laws and that responsibility shifts when full authority is delegated to forestry associations or companies.