Conservation Planning in Forest Landscapes of Fennoscandia and an Approach to the Challenge of Countdown 2010 G. MIKUSI ´ NSKI, ∗ R. L. PRESSEY,† ∗∗ L. EDENIUS,‡ H. KUJALA,§ A. MOILANEN,§ J. NIEMEL ¨ A,§ AND T. RANIUS†† ∗ Grims¨ o Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-73091 Riddarhyttan, Sweden, email grzegorz.mikusinski@ekol.slu.se †The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia ‡Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Ume˚ a, Sweden §Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 56, FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland ††Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7044, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden Abstract: Effective management of biodiversity in production landscapes requires a conservation approach that acknowledges the complexity of ecological and cultural systems in time and space. Fennoscandia has experienced major loss of forest biodiversity caused by intensive forestry. Therefore, the Countdown 2010 initiative to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe is highly relevant to forest management in this part of the continent. As a contribution to meeting the challenge posed by Countdown 2010, we developed a spatially explicit conservation-planning exercise that used regional knowledge on forest biodiversity to provide support for managers attempting to halt further loss of biological diversity in the region. We used current data on the distribution of 169 species (including 68 red-listed species) representing different forest habitats and ecologies along with forest data within the frame of modern conservation software to devise a map of priority areas for conservation. The top 10% of priority areas contained over 75% of red-listed species locations and 41% of existing protected forest areas, but only 58% of these top priorities overlapped with core areas identified previously in a regional strategy that used more qualitative methods. We argue for aggregating present and future habitat value of single management units to landscape and regional scales to identify potential bot- tlenecks in habitat availability linked to landscape dynamics. To address the challenge of Countdown 2010, a general framework for forest conservation planning in Fennoscandia needs to cover different conservation issues, tools, and data needs. Keywords: boreal forests, reserve selection, spatial conservation planning, Zonation software Planificaci´ on de la Conservaci´ on en Paisajes Forestales de Fennoscandia y un Acercamiento al Reto de la Cuenta Regresiva 2010 Resumen: El manejo efectivo de la biodiversidad en paisajes productivos requiere un enfoque de conser- vaci´ on que reconozca la complejidad de los sistemas ecol´ ogicos y culturales en el tiempo y espacio. Fennoscan- dia ha experimentado la p´ erdida de biodiversidad forestal debido a la silvicultura intensiva. Por lo tanto, la iniciativa Cuenta Regresiva 2010 para detener la p´ erdida de biodiversidad en Europa es de gran relevancia para el manejo forestal en esta parte del continente, Como una contribuci´ on para alcanzar la meta impuesta por Cuenta Regresiva 2010, desarrollamos un ejercicio de planificaci´ on espacialmente expl´ ıcito que se bas´ o ∗∗ Current address: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia Paper submitted May 10, 2007; revised manuscript accepted July 16, 2007. 1445 Conservation Biology Volume 21, No. 6, 1445–1454 C 2007 Society for Conservation Biology DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00833.x