BSAG Aims to Tackle the Water Impacts of Forestry

The majority of the Baltic Sea’s nutrient and humic load originates from land, specifically agriculture and forestry. Recent research reveals that the impacts of forest management impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems are significantly higher than previously thought. Urgent action is needed to address the situation.

The management of forests impacts the Baltic Sea.

Forestry affects water bodies both directly and indirectly

Drainage, logging, and soil preparation in forests release nutrients, suspended solids and organic matter, causing significant ecological changes in water bodies. These nutrients and organic matter flow into the Baltic Sea through streams, lakes, rivers, contributing to its eutrophication. This poses a major problem, leading to murky waters, an increase in harmful blue-green algae, and oxygen depletion on the seafloor.

Forests also release carbon into water bodies, of which a significant portion (40–70%) eventually converts to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accelerating climate change. When carbon reaches nutrient-rich marine bays, it can further increase methane emissions. Climate change threatens entire ecosystems, and the Baltic Sea as a sensitive environment is particularly vulnerable to its impacts.

Reducing the impact of forestry on water bodies is essential for improving the condition of the Baltic Sea, and cost-effective solutions are already available. The warming of the Baltic Sea due to climate change complicates the recovery of its marine ecosystem, further increasing the urgency for action in its catchment area.

Finland’s Water Act permits even unnecessary drainage operations. Meanwhile, public funds are used to restore wetlands and streams, as well as to rehabilitate water bodies.

Impacts on water bodies can be reduced through more precise planning and implementation

In Finland, forestry’s water protection has traditionally focused on preventing nutrients from entering water bodies through various water-protection structures. However, many of the methods currently in use are ineffective. The attention must be shifted to forest soil, particularly the prevention of soil erosion. By minimising the release of organic matter and nutrients from forest soil and managing water flow across the catchment area, the land-based load to the Baltic Sea’s can be significantly reduced.

Effective protection of water bodies requires both restoration efforts and much more precise, site-specific planning of forest management. The goal should be to minimise drainage. Moreover, excessively deep and unnecessary ditches must be repaired and restored to regain forests’ capacity to retain water. Attention must also be paid to the quality and width of buffer strips around both large and small water bodies, as these play a crucial role in protecting aquatic ecosystems and reducing eutrophication.

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In the near future, industrial wood procurement in Finland will increasingly focus on peatlands. This shift poses a growing risk to surface waters, even though the trend should be moving to the opposite direction. Regulatory measures are urgently needed to mitigate the impacts on our waters.
Taina Ihaksi, Project Director, Forestry , BSAG

BSAG’s goal is to reduce the water impacts of forestry

BSAG’s forestry initiative, launched in early 2024, aims to reduce the water impacts of forestry across the entire Baltic Sea catchment area and address land-based loading affecting the sea. During our first year, we gathered insights on forestry’s impacts on water bodies and the need for change by interviewing a broad range of Finnish forestry experts, including researchers, practitioners, advocacy groups, and companies. In addition to this, we developed a policy brief (in Finnish) outlining measures to reduce forestry’s impacts on water bodies. In the coming years, we will launch impactful projects in collaboration with stakeholders to achieve our goal.