Effects of changed interpretation of the Finnish Forest Act on the Riparian Woodland Key habitats

In Finland, Woodland Key Habitats (WKH’s) are protected by the Finnish Forest Act. The Act defines the habitats included, and the Finnish Forest Centre has created interpretation recommendations for forestry professionals. New amendment of the Act was introduced in 2014 including new requirements related to the WKH’s: they must be small-sized or have minor forestry importance. Followingly, a new interpretation recommendation was written in 2018 aiming to clarify the previously subjective legislation, but it initiated new requirements for the habitats. In this study, we examined spatial data of WKH stream habitats during the years 2018–2021. We found that5643 hectares of riparian WKH sites were removed from the Finnish Forest Centre’s data during2018–2021. Our results show that the reason for removal varied and that in many cases, it was impossible to conclude. The results also showed that many current sites do not fulfil the requirements of the law or its interpretation. The contrast between current sites not fulfilling and removed sites fulfilling the requirements shows how problematic the law and its interpretation are in practice, challenging the protection of forest biodiversity.