Commercial forests account for ca. 90% of Finland’s forests. Because the majority of forest flora and fauna species live in commercial forests, the management of those forests is of crucial importance for biodiversity.

There is a wide range of practices available in the natural management of commercial forests, and natural management has become an essential part of forest management and harvesting. Valuable habitats in commercial forests have been charted, and these areas are as a rule excluded from commercial treatment. Moreover, features typical of natural forests are conserved by leaving retention trees and deciduous trees in felling areas and by undertaking controlled burning.

The results of natural management are slow to show in commercial forests, because only some 2% of the forests are subjected to the measures annually. However, research findings show that there have been rapid positive effects on species found in forests, particularly following controlled burning. Methods for safeguarding biodiversity in forests should be further developed in cooperation with other parties.

One of the most important aims in the natural management of commercial forests is increasing the volume of large decaying trees

Retention trees left alive in felling areas will become dead-wood in time. Natural management monitoring results compiled by Forestry Development Centre Tapio show that the volume of large decaying trees has begun to increase in commercial forests due to the new methods. The volume of wood in retention trees in felling areas is almost one million cubic metres per annum.


The Finnish forest industry companies have invested substantially in safeguarding biodiversity in commercial forests by training their personnel and machine entrepreneurs in environmental matters. In addition, the Finnish Forest Industries Federation has sponsored forest biodiversity research, such as the Finnish Biodiversity Research Programme FIBRE and the MOSSE Biodiversity and Monitoring Programme.

Finland has a larger percentage (9%) of strictly protected forests than European countries on average, but further action is required in southern Finland to safeguard biodiversity. Voluntary protection measures in addition to natural management in commercial forests are the best alternative. Voluntary protection measures are also necessary because private individuals own some 70% of the forest land in southern Finland. Several studies suggest that the measures being voluntary encourage a positive attitude among forest owners towards nature conservation.