The protected areas of Finland include
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s,
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s and other areas, with a purpose of conserving areas of all of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
's
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s and
biotope
A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...
s.
Protected areas include:
*
National parks of Finland
There are 41 national parks in Finland. They are all managed by the Metsähallitus. The national parks cover a total area of – 2.7% of Finland's total land area.
A total of 3.2 million people visited the parks in 2018. During the Covid-19 pan ...
(''Kansallispuisto/Nationalpark'') - 8,170 km²
*
Strict nature reserves of Finland
Strict nature reserves () are specific areas in Finland which have been established for scientific reasons. Their primary purpose is the conservation of nature and research. The regulations for the nature reserves are much stricter than those for t ...
(''Luonnonpuisto/Naturreservat'') - 1,530 km²
*
Mire reserves of Finland
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...
(''Soidensuojelualue/Myrskyddsområde'') - 4,490 km²
* Protected herb-rich forest areas (''Lehtojensuojelualue/Lundskyddsområde'') - 13 km²
* Protected
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
areas (''Vanhat metsät/Gamla skogar'') - 100 km²
* Grey seal protection areas (''Hylkeidensuojelualue/Sälskyddsområde'') - 190 km²
* Other protected areas on state-owned land - 468 km²
The state-owned protected areas cover a total of 14,961 km² while 1,220 km² are on private land.
See also
*
Wilderness reserves of Finland
The wilderness areas ( fi, Erämaa-alueet, sv, Ödemarksområden) of Finland are remote areas which are not strictly nature reserves. The areas were set up in 1991 to preserve their wilderness character, the Sami culture and their natural form o ...
*
Right of public access to the wilderness
The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness ...
*
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...
External links
Finland's National ParksNational parks, hiking areas, wilderness areas
{{Europe topic, Protected areas of, countries_only=yes, UK_only=no