Tampere Nature Reserve Plan advances in preliminary talks

“Preliminary talks pave the way for groups outside the mayoral coalition to participate in handling the matter.” Tamperelainen reports. Tampere’s draft nature protection program for 2026–2040 is in a sending discussion phase, and the city council has not yet made a decision on the plan as of Monday. The process opens participation to groups outside the mayoral coalition, which excludes the Finns Party and Christian Democrats from that coalition. Environment Director Kati Skipparin says the intention is to decide the program at the next city council meeting on 23 March.

The draft program would create 22 new nature reserves with a total area of about 1,000 hectares. The largest expansion would be Kauppi-Niihama, where protection would grow from 35.5 hectares to 405 hectares, significantly broadening Tampere’s protected areas.