Informational means
The Finnish Forest Research Institute, drawing on research findings,
has set up official services for governing forestry, as required
by the Ministry. These services include systems monitoring
the state of Finland’s forests and forestry, such as the National
Forest Inventory (VMI), greenhouse gas reporting
for forests, forest statistics and forest health monitoring.
The Finnish Environment Institute monitors threatened species
and manages Finland’s biological diversity information
(Lumonet). Forestry Development Centre Tapio and the Finnish Forestry
Centre performs regular evaluations of the quality of nature
values in the management of commercial forests and
compile statistics.
Forestry education is provided at the higher education level
at the Universities of Helsinki and Eastern Finland and at the
technical and vocational level at several institutes and colleges
around the country. Training for private forest owners is provided
by private forestry organisations, institutes and colleges
of forestry, as well as various further training centres.
Forest Management Associations and the Finnish Forestry Centre provide
advisory services for forest owners. Advisory services may
take the form of personal or group consultation, or consultation
provided in conjunction with exhibitions, competitions or field
trips. Group consultation services are also provided by institutes
of forestry. Forest industry companies organise excursions and
meetings for their forest owner customers.
There are several journals in Finland dealing with forestry. They
publish information about forests primarily for interested parties,
forest owners and forest professionals. Those with the widest
circulation are Maaseudun Tulevaisuus and Metsälehti. One of
the purposes of the Finnish Forest Association is to engage
in active publicity concerning current forestry issues and to
maintain a supply of basic information on Finland’s forests and
forestry. The Association has set up a general website (www.
forest.fi) and the campaign website ‘Metsä puhuu’ (The forest
speaks) for the International Year of Forests 2011.
Forest management plans for individual holdings are an
important instrument for systematic long-term forest management.
A forest management plan is a report, based on on-site visits,
on the forest resources of an individual holding and includes
calculations for harvesting options and notes on forest management
measures needed. Management plans for individual forest
holdings are mostly prepared by the Finnish Forestry Centre and the
Forest Management Associations. Metsähallitus, forest industry
companies and other bodies that own large tracts of forest have
drawn up corresponding plans for the forests administered or
owned by them, plans that reflect their own needs.
Forest certification is a voluntary instrument for market actors.
It serves as an adjunct to the implementation of sustainable
forest management, ensuring the commitment by the actors to
silvicultural instructions and standards. In forest certification, an
independent third party grants a certificate (sustainable forestry
certificate) vouching for the sustainable management and use
of the forest holding in accordance with an agreed standard.
The major international certification systems are the PEFC (Programme
for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes )
and the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council ).
Finland has its own national certification system, the FFCS (Finnish
Forest Certification System), designed in the 1990s for family
forestry. The system was accepted as part of the PEFC in 2000.
Finland’s PEFC forest certification standards have been updated
twice since acceptance in 2000. Today, 95% (22 million hectares)
of Finland’s forests are certified under the PEFC system.
Finland’s FSC certification standards were completed and approved
by the international FSC in 2010. The number of forest
holdings certified under the FSC system is expected to increase
in Finland in the near future.
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