Metla, Metsähallitus (the National Board of Forestry in Finland) and the Finnish Meteorological Institute coordinated a seminar held in Pallas, where Eugene A. Vaganov and Malcolm Hughes, leading climate researchers from Russia and the United States, and representatives of the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Finnish Forest Research Institute gave presentations. In November a seminar on the effects of climate change in Northern Finland was organized in Rovaniemi. The participants assessed what kind of effects climate change will cause on the forest ecosystem and fell areas, and whether the changes are manifested already. They tried to visualize how climate change is reflected in reindeer husbandry and forestry. How does it change the meaning of natural conservation areas and conservation objectives in Lapland? In addition to Metla, the speakers came from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the University of Helsinki and Metsähallitus. According to the newest scenarios for climate change, it is predicted that the average temperature in Finland by 2080 will be elevated by 3-7 degrees and the precipitation by 5-40 percent.
