30.8.2002 UCN Environment Centre, Johannesburg
EERO YRJÖ-KOSKINEN, Director, The Finnish Association for
Nature Conservation:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great enthusiasm that Finnish environmental NGOs salute this new initiative, which represents an important step in the conservation of wilderness and eco-systems in the boreal region. The continuation of this mapping project is necessary not only to the arctic areas, but also to the regions where Nordic enterprises operate.
This project underlines the ecological importance of the exceptionally large wilderness area, which stretches from Lapland to Eastern Siberia. This area in itself represents a major conservation value because the total number of species and the species that are endangered are not as great as in the tropics.
However, major problems remain to be solved. One of the conflicts relates to the sustainable use of forests in Northern Lapland, and to the rights of indigenous peoples, such as the Sami, who get their living from reindeer husbandry.
The problem is simple: due to logging, the product that reindeer use as basic food risks to disappear for several decades. The Finnish forestry service, Metsähallitus, which is responsible for logging, does not have a legal requirement to take into account the views and needs of the Sami people. This, in turn, has led to a conflict between the Sami Parliament and the Finnish Government. It is also one of the reasons why Finland has not signed the ILO Convention 169 which deals with the rights of indigenous peoples.
The forestry service has justified its logging practices by employment needs. The truth is, however, that these activities have kept alive only one single wood factory. In addition, it has produced an annual revenue of EUR 1 million which is, of course, a minimal amount at a national level. Furthermore, this income has not served the local community but gone directly to state coffins.
Needless to say, NGOs and the Sami people reject the current arrangement. One way to solve this problem would be to retrain the people who are involved in logging and give them new tasks under the same organisation, Metsähallitus, including nature conservation and other services.
Another solution would be not to replace the loggers once they go on pension. And finally, the Finnish Parliament should reconsider the objectives of the forestry service as some of its activities seem clearly outdated and unjustified.
Thank you.