Helsinki has just approved a bold new Nature Conservation Area Programme that will see the city protect 10% of its land and sea area by 2038.
The programme includes 98 new land and 22 new marine areas throughout the city, and will double the protected area on land and increase it by tenfold in marine areas.
More than two-thirds of Helsinki’s total area is comprised of the sea, with the city made up of over 300 islands. Of its land area, almost 40 percent is covered in greenery, from forests and meadows to parks.
Alongside protecting biodiversity, it is hoped that the nature conservation areas will allow residents to use these areas for hiking and recreational purposes for years to come.
Miira Riipinen, director general of environment services at the City of Helsinki, said, “Helsinki is a green and maritime city, so we want to protect our green, marine and recreational areas for our residents also in the future. Our goal is for nature reserves to offer nature experiences to as many people as possible, and we plan to invest increasingly in nature reserve routes and interesting nature observation sites.”
Areas being protected on land include meadows, bogs and dry heath forests, with an emphasis on areas that are currently poorly protected or feature rare nature. For marine areas, the selection is based on local ecologically significant underwater marine nature areas which have been assessed as nationally significant.
The City of Helsinki previously committed to halting biodiversity loss by 2030 at the latest.
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