Landscape protection and management
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Kaukolanharju is one of the 156 landscape areas, which was defined by the Finnish Government as nationally valuable landscapes. © Matti Osara.
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Nationally or regionally significant landscapes may be designated as landscape conservation areas under Finland’s Nature Conservation Act, so that their special natural, cultural or historical features can be suitably managed and preserved. Finland ratified the European Landscape Convention in 2005.
The national landscape conservation area of Skärlandet is located in Tammisaari in the inner archipelago area of the Gulf of Finland. Two other landscape conservation areas have been established on a regional level: the Hietajärvi-Kuivajärvi landscape conservation area in Suomussalmi, Kainuu and the Saija landscape conservation area in Salla, Lapland. Several other regional conservation areas are being planned. Nationally significant landscape conservation areas
Nationally significant landscape conservation areas are designated by the Ministry of the Environment, while decisions on regionally significant landscapes are made by the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
An additional 156 landscape areas, with a total area of 730,000 hectares, were defined by the Finnish Government in 1995 as nationally valuable landscapes. National landscapes
In 1992, 27 national landscapes were designated around Finland, in areas that particularly represent the special natural and cultural features of different regions.
These well-known landscapes have great symbolic value and widely recognised significance in cultural and historical terms, or in the popular image of Finland’s natural landscapes. No particular administrative significance was attached to the national landscapes. Nationally important cultural historical environments
Some 1,772 nationally important cultural historical environments have been designated around Finland. These environments, selected by the Ministry of the Environment and the National Board of Antiquities, range from individual buildings to extensive cultural landscapes. National urban parks
Five national urban parks have been designated in Finland, in the cities of Hämeenlinna, Pori, Turku, Hanko and Porvoo. The Ministry of the Environment designates such parks under the Land Use and Building Act in order to preserve valuable or beautiful natural, cultural or historical features of the urban landscape, and other valuable sites. Traditional rural biotopes rapidly disappearing
Traditional rural biotopes include various types of meadowland, moorland, wooded pastures, and areas of woodland cleared for shifting cultivation. Due to drastic changes in farming practices, traditional rural biotopes have been disappearing so rapidly that their numbers are thought to have declined by more than 99% over the last century.
An inventory of cultural landscapes carried out across Finland during the period 1992-1998 recorded a total of 3,694 valuable traditional rural biotopes, with a total area of around 19,000 hectares, of which only about half is currently managed.
Traditional rural biotopes are among the richest natural habitats in Finland, in terms of the diversity of their flora and fauna. But many of these traditional rural biotopes are under threat, and their disappearance represents a serious problem with regard to biodiversity. Some 22% (338) of the characteristic species of traditional rural biotopes are classified as threatened in Finland.
More information
Environment Counsellor Tapio Heikkilä, Ministry of the Environment,
tel. +358 50 594 7515, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
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