Welcome to the Forest March in Helsinki on Saturday, August 17th at 2 pm!
We will gather at Kansalaistori, from where we will march to Senate Square.
Tule mukaan vaatimaan, että meitä ja tiedettä täytyy kuunnella!
METSÄMARSSI highlights the government's fairy-tale forest criteria and demands science-based criteria and increased protection instead. Come and demand that we and science must be listened to!
The FOREST MARCH, supported by environmental movements and organizations, will be held in Helsinki. In addition, an ONLINE demonstration will be organized, which can be participated in from different parts of Finland. In addition, various events can be organized in different locations, such as distributing flyers or spreading banners.
Orpo’s government is currently outlining its own criteria for what types of forests will be protected and which will be left open to logging. Instead of the previously used definitions of old-growth forest, the government wants to create its own, narrower definition, which would also mean fewer forests to be protected. The narrower the government defines its own forest criteria, the more old-growth forest will be left open to logging.
If the government does not change its policy, we will lose the few remaining irreplaceable forests to logging, and the loss of nature in our forests will accelerate even further.
Natural forests are important to us and to the species in the forests. They provide habitats for species that cannot survive in commercial forests. Protecting old-growth forests is the only way to prevent the extinction of many forest species in Finland. Up to 80% of Finns want more protected areas, and according to researchers, protecting old-growth forests is essential to stopping nature loss.
We demand that Orpo’s government:
- Define criteria for old-growth and natural forests based on science and existing ecologically meaningful criteria
- Keep your promise to protect all state-owned old-growth and natural forests
- Significantly increase funding for private forest protection and encourage forest owners to protect their forests voluntarily
Come and show that we are not going to give up natural forests for logging!