%0 Research Notes
%T The development of mire preservation in Finland
%A Ruuhijärvi, Rauno
%D 1989
%J Suo - Mires and peat
%V 40
%N 2-3
%U http://suo.fi/article/9655
%X The preservation of Finnish mires effectively started in 1965 when the Finnish Association for Nature Protection and the Finnish Peatland Society formed a joint committee for mire protection. This committee, chaired by the author, produced a conservation programme primarily for state-owned lands, comprising altogether 209 protection areas in different vegetation zones of Finland. Consequently, the majority of the areas suggested came under the jurisdiction of the National Board of Forestry.
In 1976, a new working group was established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to assess the scientific basis of peatland protection and to prepare a comprehensive national programme for preserving Finnish mires. Most of the members of the previous committee were able to participate in the activities of the new working group. In 1979 and 1981 the Finnish Government approved in principle the basic protection plans which included approximately 600 mires covering a combined area of 0.5 Mha. In addition, national parks and strict nature reserves contain about 0.2 Mha of mires. The objective is to preserve ca. 7% of the original area (10 Mha) of Finnish peatlands. During the 1980s, some 400 000 ha of mire preservation areas have been established on state-owned land, while about 85 000 ha of privately-owned mires (included in the conservation programme) still remain unprotected. There is a clear need to complete the mire conservation programme, especially in southern Finland.

Keywords: Nature conservation, peatlands