At the end of last year, it was reported that about a third of the rest areas maintained by Metsähallitus are possibly going to be closed.
The dreaded pruning of rest stops on government-maintained hiking trails is not planned, at least not until the coming summer. Nature Service Director Henrik Jansson According to Metsähallitus’ nature services, the funding is just enough to maintain the rest areas, and their number does not have to be reduced for the summer.
However, funding is tight. Some individual pods in poor condition have had to be closed when the money has not been enough to repair them.
The maintenance of rest areas is staying the same as in previous years, but local reductions are still possible.
“As far as possible, we’re trying to make it back to the old model,” Jansson tells STT.
Erä-lehti and Helsingin Sanomat reported at the end of last year that about a third of the rest areas maintained by Metsähallitus are possibly going to be closed. The government’s savings were said to be behind the threat of termination. Luontopalvelut maintains approximately 1,600 rest places on hiking trails, such as sheds and soup kitchens.
Petteri Orpon The (kok) government cut 11 million euros from this year’s funding for nature services. Because of the cuts, 38 employees were already reduced from nature services in the change negotiations at the end of last year.
The nature services of Metsähallitus, which operates under the guidance of the Ministry of the Environment, manages, among other things, all of Finland’s national parks. It also maintains hiking routes, rest stops, signs and online services.
The government has decided to seek savings from public administration as well, such as ministries. The effect of these on nature services is not yet known.
Threat however, the reduction of break places has not been eliminated. Jansson says that decisions on possible shutdowns will be made in the fall after the situation has been carefully mapped and analyzed.
“The financial situation is so tight that the service network will be affected, but I can’t say the scale,” says Jansson.
According to Jansson, the number of break places that may be abolished will be determined in the fall. The decision is influenced, among other things, by how much Metsähallitus’ funding will decrease.
“We cannot be in a situation where when the places fall apart, they cannot be maintained. We need to get to such a situation that what we take care of is taken care of well.”
of nature services chief steward of senior officials Pertti Itkonen says that the tight economic situation and the decisions made in the change negotiations will in some way affect the maintenance of camping routes and rest stops already in the coming summer. For example, the maintenance of rest areas is reduced.
“I can’t say which places will be reduced. We have to reduce the maintenance of less used rest areas to some extent. Resources have been reduced so significantly,” says Itkonen to STT.
The maintenance activities of the nature services include, for example, the maintenance and repair work of rest areas, the delivery of firewood and the emptying of toilets.
Itkonen says that the decrease in resources can be seen, for example, in the fact that nature services will hire significantly fewer temporary workers this year than in the past. This can be seen not only in reduced maintenance but also in the shorter opening hours of nature centers.
The effects will not necessarily be visible to hikers very strongly in the coming summer. Bigger changes may come in the summer of 2025, Itkonen says.
About 3.6 million visits were made to national parks last year. In 2022, there were slightly fewer visitors.
In the corona year 2021, domestic tourism was very popular. At that time, there were more than four million visits to the national parks. According to Jansson, the number of visits has been steadily increasing in the long term.
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