ORIGINAL ARTICLE Summer loggings and bird protection: On regulation and derogations Minna Pappila Correspondence Email: minpap@utu.fi Funding information Suomen Akatemia, Grant/Award Number: 298056 Forest loggings during the nesting season are increasing in Finland. The aim of this article is to evaluate how current regulation applies to summer loggings, paying spe- cial attention to the protection of birds. The European Union Birds Directive and the Finnish Nature Conservation Act prohibit the deliberate killing and disturbance of birds. Regardless, it seems that in practice none of these rules is applied to birds and summer loggings as forestry is not considered ‘deliberate’ killing or disturbance, even if thousands of birds are killed in summer loggings every year. European biodi- versity targets and the principle of minimizing harms would emphasize implementing and monitoring existing national law and soft law more actively than currently is the case. 1 | INTRODUCTION Summer logging is an issue that strikes a chord with many people who worry about nestlings. Every spring and summer there are newspaper articles and letters to the editor about summer loggings in Finland, and the situation seems similar in other countries with large boreal forests. 1 Yet, there are economic reasons for year‐ round loggings. It is better for the forest industry to gather fresh wood steadily all through the year without the need for storage. 2 It is also more profitable for harvester entrepreneurs to use their expensive harvesters without breaks. The forest industry, once vital for the Finnish economy, still is good for 20 percent of net exports. 3 Summer loggings began in Finland in the 1960s, and have become increasingly common in Southern Finland, where one‐third of loggings already take place from May to October, keeping in mind that April–August is the main breeding season for most birds. There are some reductions in logging during the most intense nesting months, but the figures are still relatively high. 4 In addition to ecological consequences, summer loggings were the main reason for the spread of butt rot into Finnish forests in the first place. 5 Butt rot is a mycosis that spreads mainly during warm months 6 and leads to €50 million in losses for Finnish forest owners annually. Therefore, summer loggings are less profitable for forest owners, however, the forest industry and logging entrepreneurs nonetheless benefit from year‐round loggings. Contemporary har- vester machines can automatically carry out butt rot prevention, but in 25 percent of loggings this is ineffective and butt rot keeps spreading further. 7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 1 KA Hobson et al, ‘An Estimate of Nest Loss in Canada Due to Industrial Forestry Oper- ations’ (2013) 8 Avian Conservation and Ecology 5. See also, e.g., J McPhee, ‘Harvesting Toll on Nests Raises Bird Loss Worries’ (Truro News, 4 January 2018) <https://www.truro daily.com/news/harvesting-toll-on-nests-raises-bird-loss-worries-174383/>. 2 T Tanskanen, ‘Metsäyhtiöt innostuivat kesähakkuista – “Kaikki kalusto on käytössä”’ (YLE News, 21 July 2015) <https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8171391>. 3 Metsäteollisuus ry, ‘Metsäteollisuus Suomen kansantaloudessa’ (13 July 2018) <https:// www.metsateollisuus.fi/tilastot/metsateollisuus/>. The exact share of net exports in 2017 is 20.2 percent. 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ‘Kesähakkuutyöryhmä, Työryhmämuistio’, MMM 2000:8 (2000) Annex 1; Natural Resources Institute Finland, ‘Teollisuuspuun hakkuut kuukausittain [Monthly Loggings of Industrial Wood]’ (2018) <http://statdb.luke.fi/PXWeb/ sq/e688c5fd-bc09-4b88-a390-c3868911e930>. 5 Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle laeiksi kestävän metsätalouden määräaikaisen rahoituslain, metsätuhojen torjunnasta annetun lain ja riistavahinkolain muuttamisesta [Government Bill on Changing the Temporary Act on the Financing of Sustainable Forestry], HE 133/2015 vp, 4. 6 T Möykkynen and T Pukkala, ‘Juurikäävän leviäminen Etelä‐Suomen kuusikoissa ja kuusi– mänty‐sekametsissä mekanistisen mallin mukaan’ (2007) 1 Metsätieteen aikakauskirja 5, 6. 7 Metsäkeskus [The Finnish Forest Centre], ‘Laadukas kantokäsittely tärkeää kesäaikaisissa harvennushakkuissa – laho romahduttaa puukauppatilin’ (Metsäkeskus, 25 January 2016) <https://www.metsakeskus.fi/uutiset/laadukas-kantokasittely-tarkeaa-kesaaikaisissa-harve nnushakkuissa-laho-romahduttaa>. DOI: 10.1111/reel.12271 RECIEL. 2019;1–7. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel | 1