Finland needs private waters to meet marine protection target

Finland will need protection on private marine areas to meet the European Union’s target of protecting 30 percent of its seas by 2030, Yle reports. So far, 12 percent of Finland’s marine areas are protected.

About 15,000 square kilometres of new protected areas, roughly the size of Pirkanmaa, would be needed over the next four years.

Most of the underwater biodiversity requiring protection is found in privately owned marine areas, says Anna Klemelä, project manager at the Baltic Sea Action Group.

The organisation is running a programme to encourage water-area owners to protect their properties when they contain valuable natural features. Protection is voluntary, and owners help decide the restrictions applying to the marine protected area.

Fishing and hunting are not automatically banned. Fish farming and extensive dredging are prohibited, while maintenance dredging may be allowed.

“If something is to be protected, something naturally has to be restricted. But owners may not even notice the restrictions in their everyday lives,” Klemelä says.

Gullkrona reserve covers 4,800 hectares

The largest private marine protected area in the Archipelago Sea is in the Gullkrona waters in Nauvo, part of Parainen. The reserve was established across areas owned by 22 people and covers 4,800 hectares, roughly the size of Helvetinjärvi National Park.

The area contains key Baltic Sea species such as eelgrass and bladderwrack, which have declined significantly over the decades.

“We want nature to remain here in the future as well,” says Patrick Hellman, who owns shares in the Gullkrona fishing cooperative with his spouse, Irina Wahlström.

The couple says deciding to protect their waters was easy.

“We have tried to live here according to those values for decades,” Wahlström says.

Establishing a reserve can take years

Two private protected areas have been established through the Baltic Sea Action Group’s programme. Gullkrona was the first, followed by an area in Stora Fagerö in Inkoo.

Even the Gullkrona process took three years. Reaching all the shareholders takes time, and the final decision is made by the environmental administration.

The Baltic Sea Action Group is currently discussing the protection of two more areas in the Archipelago Sea.

To establish a protected area, owners must contact a regional vitality centre, which assesses whether the conditions for protection are met. The owners then discuss future restrictions with the centre and apply for a formal establishment decision. Once the decision is issued, the protected area is created, while the owners retain possession and ownership of their waters.

Klemelä says protection should be made more attractive to private owners, for example through compensation. She also says protection cannot rely solely on private individuals and that the state could consider expanding marine national parks.

The environmental administration also needs sufficient resources to ensure that protection decisions do not take unnecessarily long.