Finland is the most forested country in Europe
More than 75% of Finland’s land area is covered by forest. Forest growth has exceeded the annual fellings by 30% in recent years. In fact, the growing stock in Finnish forests has increased over the last 50 years. At the same time the production of the Finnish forest industry and the use of domestic wood has significantly increased. Sustainable forest management ensures that development is possible also in future.
The dominating tree species in Finnish forests are spruce, pine, downy birch and silver birch. All of those are original tree species in Finland.
Over half of the forests are owned by private forest owners
Most of the Finnish forests belong to non-industrial private forest owners who retain 60%of the forests. Twenty six percent of the forests is state-owned. Companies own 9% and other entities 5% of the productive forest land. About 80% of domestic wood utilised by the forest industry comes from private forest owners. The average size of the forest holding is 30 hectares and the number of forest owners is approximately 620 000.
The Finnish forests are well-known
Information is the basis for decision making in forest management and forest policy. The Finnish National Forest Inventory is a system for monitoring forests and forest resources. The information is produced both regionally and nationally. Forest inventories have been conducted every 5 to 10 years since the 1920s.
Forest resource information is also collected using a method that utilizes sample plot measurements as well as laser scanning from an aircraft and aerial photography. Finland’s second comprehensive laser scanning is on-going for six years, and the last areas will be scanned in 2025.
The area of forest protection is increasing
About 13 percent of the forests are protected. The protected area of Finnish forests has increased fivefold since the 1980s. In addition to protection, the natural management of commercial forests is an important means of safeguarding biodiversity.
Facts about Finnish forest
¹ The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, statistics
² The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, statistics (2021)
³ Luke’s statistics *1000 m (2022)
⁴ The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, statistics (2021)
5 Luke’s statistics (2021)
