![]()
Profile Protection of Freshwater Ecosystems Protection of the Arctic Environment WWF-Finland: In the International Arena
|
![]()
WWF-Finland--previously known as World Wildlife Fund--was set up in 1972. The first project to its credit was conservation of the Sea Eagle. Since then, the organization has contributed significantly to the preservation of Finland's rich natural heritage. The country has a variety of flora and fauna, especially in old growth forests and groves. These ecosystems are home to many beetles, fungi, plants, birds and mammals which cannot be found in ''managed'' forests. Sadly, this heritage is going the way of other countries. While the loss of genetic variety hits the tropical regions the hardest due to the sheer numbers that exist there, even in Finland, intensive forestry, agriculture and other unsustainable methods of land use are threatening the country's plant and animal species. Logging and removal of rotten snags, and reduction of deciduous forest cover have pushed about 700 species to the verge of extinction. Intensive forest-management practices, meanwhile, are threatening nearly half of all the endangered plant and animal species in the country. WWF has been trying to reverse this damage. It has been directing forest owners, forest authorities and forest professionals to adopt sustainable management techniques. The aim is to change the goal of the Finnish forest management from timber farming to maintaining the maximum level of biological diversity in all types of forests. It stresses the urgent need to protect this important natural resource.
WWF-Finland's conservation programme focuses on four other areas as well: fresh water systems, landscapes, the Baltic Sea and
the Arctic (Lapland). Its activities in these areas include field projects, lobbying and influencing decision makers,
spreading information and creating awareness among people through education and training.
|