THE RESEARCH SUPPORTING METSO

METSO is supported by two large research programmes, called

• MOSSE - Biodiversity and Monitoring Programme (2003 - 2006), and
• PUTTE - Deficiently known and threatened forest species in Finland (2003 - 2007).

The annual budget of MOSSE is about 2.3 million euros, totalling close to 10 million euros. The programme of Deficiently known and endangered species will total about 10 million as well.

• TUK - Safeguarding forest biodiversity - policy instruments and socio-economic impacts, started during the METSO and is the third programme, including e.g. the monitoring of economical and social impacts of the METSO programme in 2006 and after that to evaluate the impacts of conservation decisions until 2010.

MOSSE - Biodiversity and Monitoring Programme is to investigate the biodiversity of forest, agricultural and aquatic environments. Practical applicability of results is considered important throughout the Programme. For the part of forests, the results will be used in the evaluation of the METSO Programme, which takes place in 2006. In the evaluation, the ecological, economic and social impacts of different actions piloted or made elsewhere in the METSO Programme to increase biodiversity will be assessed. The results of the MOSSE Programme is targeted to provide new reliable basis for the evaluation of METSO.

MOSSE Programme includes a total of 46 research projects, 21 of which focusing on forests.  Research topics cover ecology, economics and social dimensions of biodiversity issues in Finland. The implementing agencies include the Finnish Forestry Research Institute, Finnish Environment Institute, several Finnish universities and some other research organisations.

PUTTE - Deficiently known and endangered forest species in Finland (2003-2007) is another big biodiversity research programme running currently  in Finland. The purpose of the programme is (1) to provide new information on endangered and decifiently known forest species, and (2) make the information usable in land use planning.

Finland is among the leading countries as to the knowledge of forest fauna and flora. However, recent inventories show that some two thirds of the flora or fauna is deficiently known in order to assess their rarity status and contribution to conservation decicions. The programme includes about 30 research projects.

Contact persons of the research programmes:

Biodiversity and monitoring programme MOSSE:
Antti Otsamo, Project Manager, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, P.O Box 30, FIN-00023 Government, Tel.(int.): +358 9160 52805, mobile: +358 40-5348098
E-mail: firstname.lastname@mmm.fi

Deficiently known and endangered species:

Mikko Kuusinen, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment
P.O Box 35, FIN-00023 Government
Tel.(int.): +358 9 160 39 350
E-mail: firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi