Where? Vanha Ylioppilastalo, Helsinki, Finland.
When? 7/05/2024
How many? 29 participants
Who? Private forest owners, private and civil society sectors, high-level administration and decision makers in the Ministries of Environment as well as Agriculture and Forestry.
The workshop organized with the Soil Mission SOLO project and Biodiversa+ project MiDiPeat provided valuable insights into stakeholder perspectives on Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) adoption in Finland. First, participants were divided into three groups circulating between three tables, one for each project, so that all the participants were commenting on all the group tasks. The main issues raised by the stakeholders were related to the environmental aspects of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) followed by economic aspects.
Addressing the knowledge gap regarding CCF’s long-term impact on biodiversity, particularly through robust research design and collaboration, appears to be a critical step forward. Participants highlighted the difficulty in defining and measuring biodiversity which raised questions about the true baseline for assessing biodiversity changes.
Additionally, exploring economic considerations and fostering a cultural shift within the forestry sector are essential for wider CCF implementation. While some mentioned potential barriers related to corporate forestry practices and wood pricing, a more comprehensive analysis remains to be explored by the projects.
Finally, policy barriers seemed to be less of a concern, with participants suggesting existing regulations might not hinder CCF implementation. However, the potential influence of professional and political mindsets within forestry organisations, favouring traditional practices over sustainable alternatives, was acknowledged.
Lessons learned: joining related projects together for stakeholder events prevents stakeholder “fatigue”.