Metsähallitus
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Metsähallitus (
Its two main tasks are Parks & Wildlife Finland to manage most of the
Organization
Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.
- produces about 85 percent of Metsähallitus's revenues
- markets and sells timber, manages commercial forests
- customers include the forest industry and other Finnish and foreign companies that use timber as raw material
- forest management is based on the sustainable use of natural resources
- the objective is to encourage a varied use of forest resources
Parks and Wildlife Finland
Parks and Wildlife Finland consists of the units National Parks Finland and Wildlife Services Finland, which provide the public administration services of Metsähallitus.
Metsähallitus’ public administration duties involve, among others, managing nature conservation and hiking areas, promoting conservation and recreational use of State lands and waters and controlling hunting and fishing rights.
- management of statutory protected areas and other areas reserved for conservation
- protection and care of endangered species
- management of wilderness areas, recreational areas and other special areas
- free-of-charge hiking services for the public
- customer services for Metsähallitus as a whole
- public authority issues relating to nature protection
- game and fisheries supervision
- game, fisheries and off-road traffic permits
- forest tree seed acquisition and security storage
- duties related to floating
Metsähallitus Property Development
- specialises in plot and forest real estate business and provides rental accommodations.
- prepares area plans, markets, sells and leases land for holiday homes
- is responsible for the acquisition and assignment of real property within Metsähallitus
MH-Kivi Oy
- leases soil extraction sites and sells soil.
Siemen Forelia Oy
- produces, markets and sells seed
Key figures
2017 | 2016 | |
---|---|---|
Turnover, EUR million | 319 | 333.0 |
Operating profit, EUR million | 117.2 | 103.3 |
Percentage of turnover, % | 37 | 31 |
Result, EUR million | 107.1 | 93.7 |
Contribution to state revenue, EUR million | 93 | 96 |
Return on investment, % | 4.2 | 3.8 |
Investment, % of turnover | 5 | 4 |
Solvency ratio, % | 97 | 97 |
Person-years | 1,285 | 1,431 |
- Return on investment = 100 × operating profit/subscribed capital
- Solvency ratio = 100 × shareholders' equity/balance sheet total
Land area 91,320 square kilometres (35,260 sq mi), water areas 34,140 square kilometres (13,180 sq mi), in total 125,460 square kilometres (48,440 sq mi).[1]
History
In 1542 Gustav Vasa, the King of Sweden, which at that time also included Finland, proclaimed all uninhabited wilderness areas in his kingdom as belonging to God, the King and the Crown, thereby marking the beginning of state land ownership.[2]
By the beginning of the 19th century, Finnish forests were already in full use. Until that time, forests were mainly used for slash-and-burn agriculture and to produce
In the mid-19th century wood use was so widespread that officials were concerned about the disappearance of Finland's forests. In 1851 a strict forest law was passed, and a provisional national board for land surveying and forest management was established to monitor compliance and minister to the state's lands. The history of the national forest and park service, today's Metsähallitus, began in 1859 when
The structure and tasks of Metsähallitus have changed over the years, along with many reforms in forest administration. By a 1921 decree Metsähallitus was designated a central agency under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and was given the task of “managing, monitoring and promoting Finnish forestry”. That has remained a basic mission until today, although Metsähallitus’ responsibilities no longer extend to private forestry. Since 1983 Metsähallitus has managed nature conservation tasks under the guidance of the Ministry of the Environment.
Metsähallitus became a state enterprise in 1994, at which time many administrative tasks were completely excluded from Metsähallitus’ realm of activities. Along with the new enterprise, some of Metsähallitus’ business units branched out into their own brands, such as Wild North, which offers tourism and recreation services, and Laatumaa, which specialises in the land plot and forest real estate business.
Forestry
Metsähallitus has sold wood for different needs since the very beginning of its operations, for a while mainly at auction. In the beginning of the 1900s Metsähallitus sold, among other things, railway cross-ties and firewood to the national railway board, as well as timber to sawmills. Metsähallitus also established its own sawmills, which in 1932, however, were ceded to Veitsiluoto Oy, which the state had a majority holding in. The focus of the forest industry gradually switched from sawmilling to paper and board production, which, in turn, led to an increase in the use of pulpwood.
Before World War II forest management began to garner more and more attention. The regeneration of felling areas, initially through sowing and later by transplantation, became common in the early 1930s. The first mire drainings were carried out as early as in the 1910s, in order to expand the area of productive forestland, and after the development of mechanical ditching methods in the 1960s and 1970s, mires were drained.[citation needed]
During World War II, Metsähallitus had the uncharacteristic task of producing, among other things,
In the 1950s fellings and transportation conditions were intensely developed, and as the demand for wood products grew, fellings reached even farther into the countryside. In the 1960s and 1970s wood production received a significant amount of attention, in addition to intensive soil cultivation, sapling stand improvement and fertilisation. At the same time, forestry was mechanised; trucks, forest tractors and
Large-scale public debate about the state of forests and nature protection was sparked up in the 1980s, and fellings carried out in the wilderness areas of Kessi and Talaskangas led to conflict between
From 1997 to 2000, comprehensive natural resource plans, which are renewed regularly, were drawn up for all state-owned land and water areas.[citation needed] The participatory, co-operative and open practices that were drawn up at Metsähallitus in the 1990s are complied with in the natural resource planning process.
Nature conservation and recreational services
The first forests spared from fellings and the first ‘nature parks’ on Metsähallitus’ lands were established as early as in the beginning of the 1900s. These areas, among them the Pallas-Ounastunturi and Pyhähäkki areas, were preserved for research purposes as well as for posterity.[citation needed]
The first official record on establishing a
Since the 1970s, the development of Finland's conservation area network has been based on conservation programmes aimed at preserving, for example, mires, herb-rich forests, old-growth forests and shore areas. A significant amount of the programme sites are located in areas owned by Metsähallitus. Metsähallitus currently administers a total of 480 statutory nature conservation areas covering a combined area of close to 15,000 km2. The wilderness areas of
Hiking became so popular after World War II that campsites with
The planning of national park management and utilisation began in 1974 with a national park working group set up by Metsähallitus. Building up of the service offering for hikers, such as routes, lean-tos and campfire sites, began in 1978 according to the first management and utilisation plans. National parks and a number of other nature conservation areas today offer hiking and recreational possibilities across the country.[citation needed]
For many years, Metsähallitus’ nature conservation tasks were handled as a part of forestry operations. Since the latter part of the 1970s, personnel specialised in nature conservation tasks have gradually increased, and the Nature Conservation Area office was established in 1981. Ten years later the office was changed to what is now called Natural Heritage Services. The Natural Heritage Services business unit, an ever-expanding field of activity, received its own regional organisation in 1992. Nature conservation tasks and hiking services have been developed to respond to the current conservation demands of nature's biodiversity, as well as to the needs of the recreational use of nature and nature tourism.[citation needed]
Leadership
Name[3][4] | Term |
---|---|
Rabbe Zakarias Wrede | 1863–1870 |
Jacob Henrik Alexander af Forselles | 1870–1893 |
Carl Ernst Wrede | 1893–1902 |
Peter Woldemar Hannikainen | 1902–1918 |
A. K. Cajander | 1918–1943 |
Mauno Pekkala | 1943–1952 |
Nils Osara | 1952–1960 |
Antero Piha | 1960–1973 |
Paavo W. Jokinen | 1973–1985 |
Jaakko Piironen | 1986–1992 |
Pentti Takala | 1992–2000 |
Jan Heino | 2000–2006 |
Jyrki Kangas | 2006–2014 |
Esa Härmälä | 2014–2016 |
Pentti Hyttinen | 2016–2019 |
Juha S. Niemelä | 2019– |
See also
- Pilke House
- Environmental racism in Europe
References
- ^ "Key Figures". Metsa.fi. 2013-04-08. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
- ^ "The History of Metsähallitus". Metsa.fi. 2010-11-26. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
- ^ https://www.silvafennica.fi/pdf/article4689.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Etusivu - www.metsa.fi". www.metsa.fi. Archived from the original on 2015-06-25.