High diversity in the governance of marine biodiversity in Finland

This article examines the governance of marine biodiversity in Finland, with a particular focus on the ecosystem approach. Although Finland has established several national biodiversity strategies and been a pioneer in European environmental policy, challenges remain to halt the loss of biodiversity in the sea. The sustainable management of marine natural resources is essential because of the high economic value of natural resources, the important ecosystem services that marine biodiversity enables, and not to forget the intrinsic value of the sea. Through a document study, the article maps the laws, directives and policy tools that guide the management of marine biodiversity in Finland and discusses the impacts and challenges of governance. In addition, the actors involved in the management of marine biodiversity are identified. The results show that the governance of marine biodiversity is centered on the national and regional administrative units of the central government, while increased cooperation with the local level could be a positive development in accordance with the second principle of the ecosystem approach. Furthermore, the results illustrate the complexity of management in the form of a number of legal acts at both international and national level as well as dozens of public, mainly state, actors involved in marine biodiversity management. The conclusions suggest that there is a lack of regulatory responsibility for marine biodiversity at the local level of government, a lack of mechanisms to include stakeholders and, finally, that the strength and weakness of marine biodiversity management is based on the high diversity of governance.