Natural areas make up approximately 40% of Helsinki’s land area. The city has been engaged in long-term, ambitious nature conservation work to safeguard its unique urban nature.
“Establishing nature conservation areas is one of the tools for preserving and increasing nature values in the city. It is a big step forward that the amount of protected area will more than double and increase to more than 10% with the help of the nature conservation programme. With the implementation of the programme, the protected area will make up 10.9% of the land area. The share of protected marine area in the new nature conservation programme will increase from one per cent to 11.7%,” says Anni Sinnemäki, Deputy Mayor of the Urban Environment Division.
The new nature conservation programme is much broader and more ambitious than the previous ones
The new nature conservation area programme 2025–2040 includes 98 new land and inland water areas from the City of Helsinki that are proposed to be protected by the Nature Conservation Act. The total area of the areas is approximately 1,221 hectares. There are 22 new marine areas in the programme from the City of Helsinki. The areas cover a total of approximately 5,371 hectares.
Emphasis in the selection of areas proposed for protection is on their significant nature conservation and biodiversity values, as well as their belonging to poorly protected or rare nature in Helsinki. These include, in particular, underwater nature and small water areas, as well as meadows, bogs, dry heath forests and the rarest endangered habitats. The selection of marine areas is primarily based on local ecologically significant underwater marine nature areas, which have also been assessed as nationally significant. The protected areas will mainly remain in recreational use, which will be developed together with the citizens.
“The nature conservation area programme has been prepared as extensive expert work in the urban environment division. Its implementation still requires closer cooperation in order to promote nature conservation in a growing city. The implementation schedule will be coordinated with other land use planning in such a way that both the preparation of new nature conservation areas and other planningare carried out in the same districts at the same time,” says Ville Lehmuskoski, Head of Division .
Nature values are comprehensively and increasingly taken into account in the everyday work of the urban environment division, including land use planning, other planning, construction and maintenance. In its environmental conservation goals approved by the City Board, Helsinki is committed to halting biodiversity loss by 2030 at the latest.
