Mapping Finland’s regional forest bioeconomy plans

Abstract

As a key part of the national policy agenda, Finland aims to operationalize forest-based bioeconomy. The coordination and implementation of changes are often carried out at the regional level. Yet, it remains unclear what changes can be expected in specific local contexts. Based on an exhaustive review of regional policy documents effective from 2021 onwards, we mapped Finland’s regional forest-based bioeconomy-related objectives and measures to achieve them. In the analysis, we include 44 strategy documents published by 18 regions in Finland (excluding Åland). We find that all regions include objectives and measures to intensify forest use, but only three regions explicitly mention forest-based bioeconomy as a focus area in their regional program. Forest bioeconomy-related plans are fragmented and do not necessarily provide enough detailed information that meet the needs of implementing actors, such as municipalities, companies, and forest owners. We discuss how regional plans can be improved to support forest-based bioeconomy development in Finland and internationally.