Description:
The Forest Act regulates the protection and exploitation of forests with the objective of permanently and optimally ensuring both the ecosystem integrity of the forests and their functions. The Act also regulates the conditions for managing forest trees and groups of forest trees outside forested areas. Under the Act, forest management plans are drawn up for all forests, irrespective of their ownership, and must be observed by all owners. Forest management plans are framed at the regional and local levels; silvicultural plans, however, are made at the lowest level for the direct implementation of work. The spatial part of the forest management plans link forestry directly with landscape planning, while the Act also determines the influence foresters have on the management of wildlife in the forest environment as a whole. The Act stipulates that special consent be sought for any depletion of forest land and prohibits all actions which decrease the productivity of forest sites or threaten the existence or function of the forest. Clear cutting is prohibited and the gathering of forest fruits is subject to restrictions. Strict measures are laid down for the construction of forest roads; a special feature of the Act is that such roads are deemed to be of public importance, which means that they may be used equally by non-owners. The conservation and management of wildlife is in part regulated by the Law on the Protection, Breeding and Hunting of Wildlife, which lays down the conditions for the hunting of different animal species and the seasons in which it is permitted.
Act on Forests also manages the control and jurisdiction, imposes obligations and implements control over the flow of wood.
