Forests are very important to Finlandīs economy. Finland has paper and furniture industry. Some people own their own forest.
Our landscape is very beautiful because the forests are green and pure. In Finland everybody can go to the forest and enjoy the peace of nature.
Finland is a land of forests, 70% of Finlands area is covered by forests. The share of the forest is one of the highest in the whole world. There are 250 000 square km of forest, which is more than the area of most of the European countries. Finnish forests and the whole nature is famous for its purity. In northern Finland you can find forests full of beard moss. There are a few untouched forests left in Finland, too.
Probably the most common tree in Finland is pine (Pinus sylvestris). Fir (Picea abies), birches (Betula pendula and B. pubescens), mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and grey alder (Alnus incana) are very common, too. In the ancient times this mountain ash was holy in Finland.
There is a third birch species in Finland named dwarf birch (Betula nana). It grows in marchlands and especially in northern Finland. It grows only few decimeters high. When you go to the very north, the vegetation goes close to tundra. In the north the growth rate of the trees is much slower than in the south. In autumn the nature is very colorful there. Practically all Finnish forests are inhabited by conifer trees, only few deciduous groves can be found in the southern parts of Finland. You can find there growing maples (Acer platanoides), cob-nuts (Corylus avellana), elms (Ulmus glabra), very rarely oaks (Quercus robur), quite commonly lindens (Tilia cordata) etc. On shores of the lakes there grows one kind of alder (Alnus glutinosa) and many different kinds of willows (Salix sp.) and you can find there poisonous alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus), too.
After the clear cutting of the forest, rose-bay willowherb (Epilobium augustifolium) is among the first plants that appear to the area. The area will grow into a beautiful meadow. Second period is that birches (Betula pubescens, B. pendula) invade the meadow. Finally the conifer trees will appear and new conifer forest will grow during the years.
Author: Juho Pokki
