Forest area classifications have been harmonised through the EU-financed COST E27 (protected forest areas in Europe) project, with Finland regarded as having the strictest definition of protection, according to Cost E27 vice-chairman Jari Parviainen.
Mr Parviainen, director of the Joensuu Research Centre, said the classification project was hard work due to varying forest protection traditions and models in different countries.
He said: “In some countries the commercial use of forests has been allowed in protected areas. Extensive forest areas have also been protected for different reasons – to protect biodiversity, to preserve the landscape and to prevent erosion.”
Mr Parviainen said the Finnish model, where biodiversity was the only protection criteria that counted, stood out as an example to others when compared to forest protection measures in 27 countries.
Strictly protected forests account for 4.1% of productive forest land in Finland – the highest in Europe.
Hannu Valtanen, director of forest policy at the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, welcomed the harmonisation of classifications and said the main emphasis for Finland should be on measures which protect biodiversity in multi-use commercial forests, rather than total protection.
