Finland
DBW...
FINLAND
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This month
we journey to
northern Europe
and the hunting
hotbed of
Finland.
It’s a stable
country with
good prospects
for business, let
us take a look.
Doing Business With...
FACT FILE
Capital: Helsinki
Dialling code: +358
Population: 5,509,717
Currency: Euro
Prime Minister:
Juha Sipila
Main language: Finnish
Time zone: EET (UTC+3)
Finland’s northern location
and length mean that the
living conditions of game
vary greatly in the diff erent
regions of the country. Only
relatively few game animal
species can endure the rugged
landscape and severe winters.
Th e game densities are much
smaller than, for example, in
Central Europe. Th ere is great
variation yearly, especially in the
population densities of small
game species.
Th e main game species are the
capercaillie, black grouse, wood
pigeon, hazel grouse, willow
grouse, mountain hare, brown
hare, moose and white-tailed
deer and, among waterfowl,
the mallard. Fur game include
the red fox, raccoon dog,
American mink, beaver and
pine marten. Big game, such as
bears, lynxes and wolves, require
special hunting licences for
game management or damage
prevention.
Th ere are more than 300,000
hunters in Finland who pay
the annual game management
fee (i.e. hunting card). Women
make up fi ve per cent of this
number. A total of six per cent of
the population of Finland hold
a hunting card, which is more
than anywhere else in Europe
when compared to the size of
the population.
IN ORDER TO HUNT IN FINLAND
EACH HUNTER MUST HAVE:
• A Finnish hunting card
• Hunting rights or a hunting
permit granted by a land owner
or holder of hunting rights
• A fi rearms licence
• In cervine and bear hunting: a
certifi cate of a passed shooting
test for certain species of game, a
hunting licence or an exemption
HUNTING CARD
Everyone who wishes to hunt
must pay a game management
fee to the state each hunting
year. Th e receipt for making
this payment will serve as a
hunting card for that particular
year. Th e game management
fee is determined yearly in the
state’s budget, but for the past
few years it has been 33 euros.
Before a person can purchase
a hunting card, he or she must
pass a hunting examination. In
Finland, the examination has
been obligatory since 1964.
In Finland, hunting
rights belong to the
landowner, who may
lease the hunting
rights in his domain to
another party.
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