The Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Finland is a national sectoral strategy covering the period 2012-2020. Its main goals include mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity across government and society; reducing the direct pressures on biodiversity and promoting its sustainable use; improving the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity; safeguarding the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services; and enhancing implementation of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building. For the goal of mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity across government and society, the document’s targets include integrating biodiversity values and the goal of conserving biodiversity into decision-making on plans, programmes and projects; promoting administration, business, civil society and stakeholders at all levels and implementing plans for sustainable production and consumption, and keeping the impacts of natural resource use within safe ecological limits. In addition, for reducing the direct pressures on biodiversity and promoting its sustainable use, the Strategy aims to have the loss of all natural habitats halted, and the degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats – significantly reduced; also to have areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry managed and utilised sustainably, ensuring the conservation of biodiversity. For improving the status of biodiversity, the document plans to suitably manage protected areas; to prevent the extinction of threatened species and to improve the conservation statuses of those most threatened; and to preserve and safeguard the genetic biodiversity of Finland’s cultivated plants and their wild relatives, forest trees, fish stocks, and farmed and domesticated animals. Further, for safeguarding the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services, the document aims for restoring and safeguarding ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, health, livelihoods and well-being; enhancing ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks; to respect the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of the indigenous Sámi community relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources; and to improve knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends. The Government assigns the relevant ministries to implement this strategy by working in cooperation with civil society, commercial interests and other stakeholders to create a cost-effective and purposeful action plan that contains quantitative and qualitative bases for monitoring. The action plan will implement the goals and targets defined in this strategy while giving due consideration to national needs and priorities. Progress on the implementation of the strategy and action plan will be monitored and assessed, with findings reported to the Government in 2015.
Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Finland.