The government plans to ban logging in certain types of forests during the bird nesting season in spring and summer.
According to the draft bill, logging would be prohibited in deciduous forests, groves and coastal forests in northern Finland between May and July. In the rest of Finland, the ban period would begin and end two weeks earlier.
Under the bill, northern Finland is defined as Lapland plus the municipalities of Kuusamo, Pudasjärvi, Taivalkoski, Hyrynsalmi, Puolanka and Suomussalmi.
According to the proposal, before harvesting, loggers must assess the birdlife in the area based on factors such as forest type and age.
Conservation groups have warned that the population of many of Finland’s best-known bird species has dropped sharply in recent years.
Limited impact on forest owners, government says
The wording of the bill pledges that the three-month restriction will not have a significant impact on private forest owners. It notes that the areas subject to a limited ban are small and that logging can be carried out at other times.
The government says that the legislative change is not expected to affect the sale price of timber, either. It is circulating the draft proposal for comments until next week.
The Forest Act will be amended to reflect a ruling by the European Court of Justice last August, which banned logging in Estonian forests during the bird breeding season.
That case stemmed from a decision in 2021 when Estonia’s Environmental Board suspended logging by two companies until late June. The board ruled that the forestry work posed a real risk of disturbing bird nesting or destroying nests, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported.
