European-wide conservation versus local well-being: the reception of the Natura 2000 Reserve Network in Karvia, SW-Finland

I describe grassroots resistance that evolved in the rural municipality of Karvia in SW-Finland in response to the introduction and development of the EU-wide protected areas system known as Natura 2000 Reserve Network. I have two main aims in this paper. First, I explore the local forest economy, looking at how it works and how it is structured. This I do by focusing on the multilevel well-being of key actors and by exploring the motives lying behind the behaviours and decisions of people working within the forest economy, particularly forest owners. Second, I identify and describe the principles that can help uncover the conflicts and contradictions between forest economy and conservation planning and create a framework for innovative solutions to such contradictions on the local level.