table 3.3.1. the ten most important provisioning servi-ces in finland and their associated indicators.
1. structure 2. function 3. Benefit 4. value
Berries and
mushrooms Berry and mushroom
habitats (forests, mires) Average annual yield (total kg/A or kg/ha per A)
harvested yield (harvest entering markets + do-mestic use)
sales of berries and mushrooms, value of domestic use, health im-pacts of the use of berries and mushrooms
Game Game habitats (forests, mires, farmlands, alpine habitats)
Game population, reproduction rate, wildlife richness
Game bag economic value of game bag, social, health values and intrinsic cultural values related to hunting
reindeer reindeer pastures (al-pine habitats, forests, mires)
number of reindeer, birth rate, additional feeding
Culled reindeer sales of reindeer meat, employment in reindeer husbandry, intrinsic cultural values related to reindeer herding
Wood managed forests
(for-ests, mires) Growing stock incre-ment, effect of man-agement
roundwood removals economic value of roundwood trade, employment in forestry Clean water Aquifers, pristine mires
and other wetlands, un-disturbed soils (forests, mires, inland waters, farmlands, urban areas)
state of surface water and groundwater, ca-pacity to clean water
Use of raw water economic value of domestic, irriga-tion and process use, health impacts of clean water, social values related to the availability of clean water Bioenergy types of forest used for
bioenergy harvesting, area under bioenergy crops (forests, mires, farmlands)
Annual growth of bi-omass, sustainability of biomass harvesting (stumps, cutting res-idue)
harvest, energy content value of produced energy, employ-ment
fish and
crayfish state of surface waters, stream connectivity (Baltic sea, inland wa-ters)
Population dynamics of commercially used fish and crayfish
total catch (commercial
and domestic) value of commercial and domestic/
recreational catch, employment, health impacts of the use of fish and crayfish, intrinsic cultural values related to fishing
Crops Area under crop
culti-vation (farmlands) nutrient dynamics, yield per ha, use of fertilizers and pesti-cides (organic vs. con-ventional)
harvest Agricultural income, employment, values related to agricultural land-scapes
reared
animals number of animals,
area of pastures nutrient and energy uptake, productivity (organic vs. conven-tional)
Animal products Agricultural income, employment, values related to agricultural land-scapes
Genetic
material number of varieties Genetic variance,
evo-lution Breeding and discovery
potential, benefit gained from utilizing genetic variance thus far (in-creased yield per ha etc.)
intrinsic value of genetic variance and evolution, economic value of modified organisms
30 The Finnish Environment 1en | 2015
Nationally important ecosystem services were identified in expert group meetings (http://www.
biodiversity.fi/en/about/expert-groups), and alto-gether the 28 most important ecosystem services were chosen for the indicator work. The ten most important provisioning services selected include many natural resources that have been histori-cally very important for Finland’s development (Table 3.3.1). In the latter half of the 20th century the Finnish economy relied heavily on provision-ing services such as roundwood and agricultural products (mainly cultivated crops, meat and dairy products). The role of the forest sector was particu-larly considerable in the nation’s post-war devel-opment with sayings such as “Finland stands on wooden legs” not being far off the point. Fishing continued to be an important source of livelihood and employment.
During the past two to three decades there have been far-reaching changes with respect to the rel-ative significance of several provisioning services.
For example, between 1975 and 2011 the forest sec-tor’s share of Finland’s GDP decreased from 9.5%
to 4.3% and the agriculture’s share from 5.6% to 1.0% (Figure 3.3.1 A). The number of professional fishermen fell by more than 50% between 1980 and 2010 (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 2010).
This is not to say that these economic sectors have not continued to be important, but rather that other sectors of the economy have grown more in relative significance and thus these provisioning services are not as vital to the economy as they used to be. Forest industry products continue to constitute a large portion of Finland’s exports and the country is primarily self-sufficient in terms of agricultural products. The total value of exported forest products remained quite stable between 1996 and 2012 and the share of forest industry products of total exports now lies at 20% (Figure 3.3.1 B).
The most important crops cultivated in Finland are cereals, potato, sugar beet, turnip rape and rape, and the most commonly reared animals include poultry, pigs and cattle (TIKE 2014).
0 5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000
1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Share of forest industry products of total exports Pulp and paper industries
Wood-products industries
Million €
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Forest sector Agriculture
A) Share of forest sector and agriculture of GDP B) Forest sector’s export
figure 3.3.1. the forest sector’s and agriculture’s share of finland’s Gross Domestic Product 1975–2010 (A) and the value of exports from the forest industries and forest industry products’ share of the total exports 1996–2013 (B) (osf 2014a;
finnish Customs 2014).
At the level of the whole economy, the direct economic importance of other provisioning ser-vices such as reindeer, game, natural berries and mushrooms is small and has mainly declined over the long term; however, these can still be locally important. Nowadays picking berries and hunt-ing game also contain an important recreational dimension, as securing a good catch is often less vital than the time spent in nature looking for one.
A special group in terms of dependency on pro-visioning services is the indigenous Sámi people, for whose culture and livelihoods natural resources such as reindeer, game and fish continue to play a major role. Most Sámi living in the Sámi Homeland in northern Lapland are either reindeer herders or have close family ties to reindeer herding. The reindeer management area covers one third of the total land area of Finland (Kumpula et al. 2000). In addition to its social value, reindeer herding pro-duces meat and other related products and acts an essential background for tourism in Lapland.
One provisioning service with a contrary trend is the use of biomass for energy production. The majority of the biomass used for this purpose in Finland consists of wood. Because of climate tar-gets, there has been a dramatic increase especially in the use of forest chips for electricity and heat production since the turn of the millennium
(Fig-ure 3.3.2 A). At the moment, wood fuels cover 23%
of the total energy consumption (Figure 3.3.2 B).
Peat is used mainly for heat generation. Its share of the total energy consumption is 5%. The future role of peat-based energy is heavily debated due its negative impacts on biodiversity, water quality and climate change.
Other major provisioning services in Finland are clean water and genetic material. Water as a provisioning service is used directly in domestic households and industrial processes, and for ir-rigation. The good quality of surface and ground waters is pivotal in a country where many systems rely on the ubiquitous and ample provision of wa-ter. Genetic material is preserved in native breeds, gardens and gene banks, but also by maintaining species diversity in the wild. A national program for preserving plant genetic resources was estab-lished in 2003 and a program for preserving farm animal genetic resources in 2004 (Ministry of Agri-culture and Forestry 2003, 2004). The genetic diver-sity of forests is preserved in special gene reserve forests (65 km2 in 2013) and ex-situ gene reserve collections (Metla 2013a-b). A wide pool of genetic material enhances breeding possibilities, capacity for coping with future challenges and the discov-ery of potential new nutrition sources, chemicals and medicines.
23% Wood 5%
4%
68% Peat
Hydropower
Fossil fuels, nuclear energy, net import & other sources 0
1 2 3 4 5 6
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
3 [ Million m ] Small-sized treesLogging residuesLarge-sized timberStumps and roots
A) Use of forest chips for energy B) Total enegy consumption by source
figure 3.3.2. Use of forest chips for energy production 2000–2012 in heating and power plants (A) and total energy consumption by source in 2012 (B). Wood chips provide approximately one fifth of the total energy generated by the burning of wood fuels. the most important source of wood-based energy is forest industry waste and by-products (met-la 2001–2013; osf 2014b).
32 The Finnish Environment 1en | 2015 3.3.2