Protected Areas in Finland
Finland has an extensive network of protected areas, formed mainly by National Parks and Nature Reserves. Its purpose is to conserve for the present and future generations an adequate amount of representative and ecologically viable sample areas of all of Finland's ecosystems and biotopes.
National Parks are protected areas exemplifying the more valuable and characteristic habitats and land forms in the country; their primary objective is nature protection, but they also play an important role in providing opportunities for recreation, hiking and similar outdoor pursuits.
There is a total of 35 national parks in Finland. They are managed by Metsähallitus with the exception of the Koli National Park which is managed by the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla. The total surface area of Finland's national parks is 8,150 km2.
Besides National Parks, 19 Strict Nature Reserves have been established for scientific reasons. Regulations applying to strict nature reserves are stricter than those for national parks: some strict nature reserves have nature trails open to the public, but permission to visit places off the hiking trails is given only for scientific purposes.
The protected area network also includes 173 Mire reserves, 53 Protected herb-rich forest areas, 92 protected old-growth forest areas, Grey seal protection areas and Wilderness reserves.
Source: Metsähallitus
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