In Finland, howling against an EU project for nature

Facing a new clearing he had just cleared, Matti Jäppilä pointed to the many growth rings on a large stump of a tree nearly three centuries old.

In Finland, which is 75% forest-covered, many residents like him are worried about a new European biodiversity project aimed at restoring nature, which they say will “completely destroy” the important logging sector.

“I started systematically cutting these plots, to continue,” the 52-year-old forest engineer told AFP.

Near Askola in southern Finland, the loud sound of a brushcutter echoes through a thick boreal forest of birch and spruce, where a Finnish woodcutter prepares another big cut for December.

Before the EU, he said, prevented him from doing so, “it is better to cut down the old pines now than to wait”.

Forest engineer Matti Jäppilä shows the growth rings of a recently felled tree, in his forest in Askola, on October 31, 2022 in Finland (AFP/Alessandro RAMPAZZO)

If a large part of his forest, owned by the family for 300 years, becomes a protected area, passing it on to his children will be “impossible”, believes the silvicultural operator.

“Very worrying,” said the Finn.

As part of its biodiversity strategy, the European Commission proposed in June a legislative project for “nature restoration”.

– Government tension –

It aims to ensure that 20% of natural areas such as forests or wetlands return by 2030 to the state they were in in the 1950s.

Forest engineer Matti Jäppilä works in the forest owned by his family on October 31, 2022 in Askola, Finland (AFP/Alessandro RAMPAZZO)

All forests, whether natural or cultivated for forestry, and not just protected natural areas, are concerned.

Apart from the opprobrium of Finland’s influential forest sector, the project has caused tensions within Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s coalition government.

The Greens, in favor of the European text, found themselves in conflict with the Center party, traditional support for the forest and agriculture sector.

After long palavers, the five ruling parties finally agreed on a critical line, Ms. Marin judged the European plan on Wednesday “unacceptable without major changes”.

The opposition, criticizing the government for letting the Commission go ahead, filed a motion of censure. It failed on Friday, with 103 votes in support of the government and 73 against it in a vote of confidence.

“This regulation proposed by the Commission is very unfair for Finland,” complained Saara-Sofia Sirén, an MP from the National Coalition party.

According to him, the return to nature is thus worth 190 million euros per year in Europe’s first economy, Germany, “against almost a billion for Finland”.

In 2020, Finnish forest sector exports were worth €10.4 billion, or 18% of the Nordic country’s total.

Another problem with the European project according to Finland: the Commission made its approach without consulting the State, while forest management is a national competence.

Logs of felled trees in Askola forest, October 31, 2022 in Finland (AFP / Alessandro RAMPAZZO)

“It is important” that the forest policy remains decided “at the national level”, pleaded Ms. Siren.

Finland is not alone in the excitement: in July 2021, ten European capitals, including Helsinki but also Berlin and Vienna, expressed their “deep concern” about European initiatives regarding forests.

– Jungles in danger –

France has also expressed its hostility, as has Sweden, which intends to bring the subject back to the table during the next EU presidency, in the first half of 2023.

Aerial view of a deforested part of the Askola forest on October 31, 2022 in Finland (AFP / Alessandro RAMPAZZO)

But for Jaana Bäck, professor of forest sciences at the University of Helsinki, “there is no doubt that these measures are necessary to prevent the deterioration of nature and the destruction of biodiversity”.

“This will not happen without active intervention,” he told AFP.

After decades of advocating for individual initiatives, the EU found that the level of protection was “far from adequate”.

“Forests are protected in Finland, but not enough. For example, we have very little protection in old-growth forests,” he pointed out.

Finland’s forest carbon sink is also under threat.

In May, Statistics Finland estimated that land use – mainly agriculture and forestry – had become a net source of emissions for the first time in the country, due to a decrease in carbon stocks in forests.

© 2022 AFP

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