A Change in the Paradigm? Ecosystem Goods and Services in Finnish Forest and Environmental Policies

The framework of Ecosystem Goods and Services, introduced by Millenium EcosystemAssessment has entered as a key linkage between ecosystems and human well-being. This paperintroduces and briefly analyses developments and state of affairs in Finland’s forest andenvironmental policies and the ways the new emphasis on ecosystem services is so fardocumented in the strategies and policies related to forests and environment. Some attention isgiven to international and domestic reasons in this development, including a recent downturnof pulp and paper industries. The international changes from the ”narrow ” biodiversity focusto broader ecosystem services approach are already being taken into account in prospectingFinland’s environmental policies. Comparing to the earlier “environmental turn” in forestry,one may call this as an ongoing “socio-economic turn” in biodiversity based environmentalpolicies in Finland. Ecosystem goods and services will also play important roles in the largereconomic, ecological and social frames called as ‘green economy’, ‘green growth’ and‘bioeconomy’, outlined in some strategic reports. All these reasons, backed by the longer termor more recent development towards multiple-use, environmentally benign forestry andintegrated natural resource management, may facilitate an active adaptation towardsecosystem goods and services framework in Finland’s forestry. Consequently, an increasedconvergence and improved integration of forest and environmental policies within ecosystemservices and other supporting frameworks, may result in policy changes which can be called asparadigmatic. Yet this preliminary conclusion requires better evidence and more detailedanalysis – and the process itself more time to be consolidated.