FO18 background information

FO18 Prescribed burning

Prescibed burning refers to intentional burning of logging residues and forest floor after a regeration felling. A controlled fire creates good environmental conditions for the creation and growth of seedling stands. Prescribed burning is most suitable for mineral soil sites while peatlands are not burned.

Forest fires are uncontrolled fires in forested landscapes. These occur both naturally as ignited by lightning and because of human activities, mainly carelesness in handling fire.

A) Prescribed burning in regeneration areas (hectares)

Year	Annual	Cumulative	Year	Annual	Cumulative	Year	Annual	Cumulative
1950	4 300	4 300	1970	900	334 400	1990	3 800	368 700
1951	4 500	8 800	1971	500	334 900	1991	1 400	370 100
1952	7 400	16 200	1972	500	335 400	1992	2 000	372 100
1953	15 400	31 600	1973	700	336 100	1993	1 000	373 100
1954	17 700	49 300	1974	800	336 900	1994	1 700	374 800
1955	33 400	82 700	1975	300	337 200	1995	1 400	376 200
1956	32 400	115 100	1976	600	337 800	1996	900	377 100
1957	27 900	143 000	1977	1 900	339 700	1997	1 000	378 100
1958	34 800	177 800	1978	700	340 400	1998	600	378 700
1959	27 000	204 800	1979	900	341 300	1999	1 300	380 000
1960	18 500	223 300	1980	1 600	342 900	2000	472	380 500
1961	13 900	237 200	1981	500	343 400	2001	2 286	382 800
1962	14 600	251 800	1982	1 600	345 000	2002	2 010	384 800
1963	32 900	284 700	1983	1 400	346 400	2003	1 343	386 100
1964	16 300	301 000	1984	1 800	348 200	2004	216	386 300
1965	13 800	314 800	1985	3 500	351 700	2005	1 065	386 400
1966	10 600	325 400	1986	3 200	354 900	2006	1 032	388 400
1967	4 900	330 300	1987	1 000	355 900	2007	477	388 900
1968	2 200	332 500	1988	5 500	361 400	2008	434	389 300
1969	1 000	333 500	1989	3 500	364 900	2009	691	390 000

B) Forest fires (hectares)

Year	Number of fires	Burned area	Year	Number of fires	Burned area
1970	550	3024	1990	559	434
1971	557	762	1991	287	226
1972	581	1032	1992	852	1081
1973	1095	1301	1993		940
1974	331	450	1994	1115	798
1975	601	719	1995	1115	526
1976	510	543	1996	1487	437
1977	296	345	1997	1588	1146
1978	491	801	1998	371	132
1979	430	544	1999	1530	610
1980	694	774	2000	806	262
1981	171	202	2001	796	174
1982	504	513	2002	2489	584
1983	271	100	2003	1707	664
1984	464	301	2004	783	351
1985	502	238	2005	1041	489
1986	717	367	2006	2992	1595
1987	285	153	2007	1153	570
1988	621	289	2008	1415	825
1989	617	518	2009	1201	531

Download data on a spreadsheet from here

Links:

Forest information services by Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla).

References:

Engelmark, O. 1999. Boreal forest disturbances. In: Walker, L. R. (ed.), Ecosystems of Disturbed Ground. P. 161-186. Ecosystems of the World 16. Elsevier. Amsterdam.

Wallenius, T. 2004. Fire histories and tree ages in unmanaged boreal forests in Eastern Fennoscandia and Onega peninsula. PhD-thesis. University of Helsinki.