Leaders of Finland’s largest cities commit to preventing biodiversity loss – 600 participants at the Espoo Nature Forum

The first joint Nature Declaration of the ten largest cities was prepared in Tampere, in September 2024. The declaration strengthens the role and cooperation of cities in halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and then turning biodiversity into a recovery path thereafter.

With the Nature Declaration, the cities want to work together to strengthen biodiversity and sustainable urban development. They also want to support and spur the government on in biodiversity-related decision-making, as well as to encourage their international networks to increase the significance of nature work.

In the updated Nature Declaration, city leaders and mayors committed to, among other things, developing and maintaining the blue-green areas and infrastructure of cities, bringing nature positive targets alongside climate change mitigation in connection with the 2025 strategy updates, and setting concrete, measurable nature targets for cities. In setting nature targets, the aim is to establish common practices and ensure the best possible comparability.

In addition, cities will implement the principles of the mitigation hierarchy and commit to utilising common indicators to assess the harms and improvements caused to nature. Cities will also strengthen the role of education in halting biodiversity loss.

In Espoo, the implementation of the declaration is already underway. Espoo's own steps towards safeguarding and increasing biodiversity have been recorded in the Nature-wise Espoo roadmap approved this year.

At the moment, Espoo is working on, for example, establishing new nature value parks. Nature value parks complement the city’s nature conservation network and can be used to combine recreational and nature values that are important for city residents. The first nature value parks are being planned in Finnoo and Pitkäjärvi.

“We want to show that it is also possible to strengthen biodiversity in growing cities. We recognise the intrinsic value of nature, as well as the benefits to well-being and to the success of cities,” says Kai Mykkänen, Mayor of Espoo.

“As usual, in Espoo objectives are promoted together with the partners. For example, Microsoft Finland announced at the Nature Forum that it will permanently protect more than 300 hectares of forest, through the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation, in the municipalities in which it builds data centres. This shows that when public and private actors join forces, solutions can be created that have a real impact. It is possible to reconcile the activities of city residents and business life with the well-being of nature,” Mykkänen continues.

The areas protected by Microsoft are located in Kaurasuo in Luukki, Espoo, and in the Kauhala forest area in Kirkkonummi. A decision on the protection of Pääkslahti in Vihti is being prepared. The areas are protected in cooperation with the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation.

The Nature Declaration also identified the significance of the built environment for biodiversity and the need to intensify cooperation with the construction industry. In connection with the updated declaration, a Cooperation Document for the construction industry and large cities was also published, to support the dialogue on nature activities in the built environment.

Cooperation between cities and the construction industry focuses on sharing nature information and best practices, cooperation in land use planning and promoting nature value markets.

The updated declaration and the Cooperation Document of the construction industry were published on Friday 5 September 2025 at the Espoo Nature Forum. The first Nature Forum was organised in Tampere in 2024, and the second now under the leadership of Espoo.

The Nature Forum, organised in Dipoli, Espoo, brought together some 600 experts from cities’ management and office holders, companies, research communities and organisations to discuss biodiversity. The programme of the day included expert speeches, joint discussion and familiarisation with nature work by different organisations in the exhibition area.

“It was great to see such an extensive and committed group of actors building cooperation for a thriving nature. Ultimately, nature preservation is always a local issue, which is why it is important that cities and municipalities are broadly committed to it. In Espoo, the work will continue during this council term, especially as part of the cross-administrative Sustainable and Close-to-Nature Espoo programme,” says City Councillor Tiina Elo, the new chair of the programme.

The event’s partners are Aalto University, Climate Leadership Coalition, The Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities, Finnish Environment Institute Syke, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, BOOST and MUST research projects, Fortum, GRK, Lassila & Tikanoja, NCC, S Group, SRV and One Planet Oy.

In 2026, the Nature Forum will be held in Lahti.

Nature Declaration of Mayors 2025

Cooperation Document for the Construction Industry and Large Cities