Despite
the lack of resources and the tight schedule we found altogether 55
cases of already logged areas or areas with current logging plans
that clearly did not take into account the biological, social or cultural
value of the areas in question. It is obvious that a more thorough
study would have revealed an even grimmer reality.
Within
the studied Forestry Centres in eastern and northern Finland we found
32 examples of old-growth forest logging and logging plans.
In northernmost
Lapland (the Sámi area) there are also examples of the conflicting
intrests between forestry and reindeer herding. Reindeer herding is
an important part of the culture of the indigenous Sámi people. There
are also conflicts regarding land ownership in the Sámi area (see
the chapter Conflicts between forestry
and reindeer herding in the Sámi area later in this web
site for more information).
In North
Karelia we found two examples of old-growth forest logging. We also
found four cases of violations of the ecological FFCS certification
criteria in managed forests. They are presented in this report as
examples of the generally poor implementation of the certification
criteria. A comprehensive list of the types of criteria violations
that independent certifiers have revealed in each Forestry Centre
can be found in appendix 3.
In Pirkanmaa
we found ten examples of logging in forests of high conservation value.
Our research
efforts concentrated on five Forestry Centres. However, during the
field work we received information on past logging and current logging
plans in forests of high conservation value as well as violations
of the FFCS certification from four other Forestry Centres as well.
There were altogether nine such cases from the four Forestry Centres
and they are also presented in this report.
