Finland: Finland and Russia enhance cooperation on game management – all game animal species included in the statement

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation have agreed to expand cooperation on game management. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Aleksandr Kozlov signed the Joint Statement on 27 January 2021. The signing of the statement took place via remote connection.

The details of the statement were agreed at the meeting between the two ministries on 5 August 2020.

– The Joint Statement promotes our cross-border cooperation with Russia. This includes questions related to wolves and other large carnivores, which is one of the aims stated in the management plan for Finland’s wolf population. We will also have better exchange of information on the wild boar population, thus helping us in our efforts to combat African swine fever, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä says.

The ministries will appoint a bilateral working group on game management to discuss current issues, agree on joint projects and other concrete cooperation, and exchange experiences in the field of game management. The Joint Statement covers the management of all game animal species. In future it will also be possible to engage in cross-border cooperation with Russia as stated in the Management Plan for the Wolf Population.

The concrete topics to be discussed include the legislation and best practices concerning game management and hunting and cooperation between institutes and organisations in the field. The statement will also strengthen the present scientific and research cooperation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry signed similar cooperation documents with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Norwegian Environment Agency in 2020.