Enso gives misleading and even false information on Finnish forests Second biggest forest company in Finland, Enso Group is accusing the dutch environmental organisation Milieudefensie for giving false information on Finnish forests. However, the Enso itself gives misleading and -we dare to say- false information on Finnish forests in their letter to companys dutch customers on April 16th. The Finnish Nature League disapproves Ensos way to act. "Environmental organisations will once again have to do extra work to correct the wrong information", says Matti Liimatainen from Finnish Nature League. "We feel sad because of Ensos accuses, which are not only based on misleading information, but also creating an illusion of dishonest environmental organisations." In the letter of Enso the protection programmes for shorelines and peatland forests are mentioned in a way which most probably makes the reader feel these areas as benefits for forest protection. In the shoreline protection areas forestry is allowed if the loggings are carried out by following the normal recommendations on forestry in shorelines, from general guidelines of private forestry. When the peatland protection programme was prepared, the amount of forest land was minimized. The loggings in peatland protection areas were allowed until year 1993. About old-growth forest protection programme Enso tells, that thousands of hectares of forests were inventored, and as a result 350 000 hectares were protected. This 350 000 hectares is total land area of the protection decisions. 253 000 hectares of this consists of peatlands, other poorly productive areas and so-called special forests where there is no commercial forestry. 97 000 hectares is the correct amount of protected productive forest land - those areas which are addition to present forest protection network. Compeletely wrong description is given on forestry management planning in those state-owned forest areas, which were left out of the old-growth protection programmes. For further information on this and previous facts, see encl.1. All correct facts would have been avalaible for checking in certain governmental publications and agreements between authorities. These things have been presented even in Finnish newspapers several times. The Finnish Nature League wants to remind, that 3,5% of productive forest land in Finland is protected with the latest decisions. Not all of this is old-growth forest. According the ecologists this amount is not enough for protecting the biodiversity of our forests, and new forest management methods and plannings can not replace the old-growth forest protection. Careful analyze of ENSOs brief References used in this analyze (mostly in Finnish): -National protection programme for peatlands (Working group of Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture 1981) -Protection programme for shoreline-areas (Publication by Ministry of Environment 97/1991) -Protection of old-growth forests in Southern Finland (Report I by the working group for protection of old-growth forests, Report 70/1992 of Ministry of Environment) - Supplement of protection of old-growth forests in Southern Finland (Report II by the working group for protection of old-growth forests, Report 2/1994 of Ministry of Environment) -Preservation of the nature values in the old-growth forests owned by the Kuusamo forest cooperative (Report by the Kuusamo working group, Ministry of Environment, Land Use Department 1996) -Protection of old-growth forests in Northern Finland (Report III by the working group for protection of old-growth forests, Ministry of Environment, Land Use Department 1997) -Agreement between minister of environment and minister of forestry and agriculture of certain old-growth forests in districts of Southern Kainuu and Northern Karelia, January 22th 1997 -Old-growth Taiga Forest - a challenge for nature protection (leaflet by Forest and Park Service, nature protection unit 1996) 1) Protection programmes for shorelines and peatlands, ENSOs brief, chapters 3 and 4. "During the 1980`s several special protection programmes were implemented. These included e.g. herb-rich growth forests and peatland forests. In the 1990`s great developments have taken place. A protection programme for shorelines has been prepared. These areas are mostly covered by forests." The protection programme for shorelines was prepared to preserve the biodiversity of shorelines by restricting building and construction. Construction of roads, building houses and cottages etc., digging and ditching are prohibited in shoreline-protection areas. Forestry is allowed. Only restriction is, that normal recommendations of general guidelines of private forestry in Finland must be followed. There are several examples of clearcutted shoreline-protection areas, also in ENSOs lands.. When peatland protection programme was founded in 1981, the amount of forests was minimized. Purpose of peatland protection has been to preserve peatlands. Forestry has been allowed in peatland protection areas til year 1993. Before this decision, peatland protection areas has been in heavy forestry use. Many of them has been compeletely clearcutted. 2) Old-growth forest protection programmes, ENSOs brief, chapter 6. "Several hundreds thousands of hectares of potentially ecologically valuable forests were inventoried.. ..At the end about 350 000 hectares were set aside as protected area." This chapter in Ensos letter is formuled in a way which most probably makes the reader feel that 350 000 hectares of forests were protected. However, mentioned 350 000 hectares is the land area protected in old-growth programmes in whole country. 253 000 hectares of this consists of peatlands, other poorly productive areas and so-called special forests where there is no commercial forestry. 97 000 hectares is the correct amount of protected productive forest land - those areas which are addition to present forest protection network. 3) Management plans in those forest areas which were inventoried, but left out of the old-growth protection programmes, ENSOs brief, chapter 7. "Not all inventoried areas became part of the protected areas network. These .. ..will be managed according to an ecological landscape- or similar plan. Such a management plan must be accepted by the nature protection authorities before any cuttings are allowed.". This is not true. The descripted procedure conserns only certain 8000 hectares of forests in districts of Northern Karelia and Kainuu, in area which was part of inventories of Southern Finland. 36 000 of hectares of certain forest areas in Northern Finland will be not be logged before ecological landscape plans are ready - but these plans are made inside Forest and Park Service and no acceptions from nature protection authorities is needed. There are no restrictions for loggings in the other inventoried forest areas neither in state- or private-owned lands. During the past years tens of these areas have been compeletely or partially logged and loggings have been planned in several areas in near future, both in state- and private-owned forests. |
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