A Visit to Finland

By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, FCUSA

MID-APRIL, I TRAVELED to Helsinski, Finland at the invitation of the Finnish Fur Breeders' Association, Finnish Fur Sales, Fur Finland and the Federation of Forest Industries. Over 10% of Finland's 130,000 square miles is dotted with 60,000 inland lakes. Nearly one-third of the country lies north of the Arctic Circle and light snow covers the ground for four or five months a year in the south and about seven months in the north.

Finland's population of five million makes up 35% of the world's population north of latitude 60°N. Finland, however, is sparsely inhabited, with only 39 people per square mile, making it one of the most sparsely inhabited countries in Europe. 81.2% of the population live in urban communities with more than two-thirds of the population residing in the southern third of the country.

Finland shares borders with Norway, Russia and Sweden, and large bodies of water which influence its climate for the better. Some 66% of Finland is forested, chiefly with conifers, dominated by spruce and pine. I was surprised to learn that almost all the land is privately owned and the Finns were surprised to hear how much land is in Federal ownership in the United States.

With an abundant supply of by-products from the production of fish for human consumption, the Finns raise about 2 million foxes and about 1 million mink. Finnish Fur Sales is the central trading facility for all this activity, hosting six auctions annually.

I was lucky to fly to Kruunupyy for a tour of a mink and fox farm owned by an executive boardmember of the Finnish Fur Breeders' Association followed by tour of the farm of the Knutar family which is famous for its fine foxes. The Knutar family's two young sons help their parents on the farm and proudly gave me a tour of the tidy operation.

With the arrival of Spring, the foxes were losing their beautiful winter coats, but it was still obvious that these fine animals would bring another year of sensational pelts.

After the farm tour, a veterinarian with the Finnish Fur Breeders' Association, joined me for lunch with a specialist on furbearers with the Agricultural Research Center of Finland. We discussed research in Europe and ways to share information globally via the Internet. It seems we are all dreaming of that cyber-space research library, accessible to all.

Over dinner with a group of new friends, discussion turned to the antics of the Animal Liberation Front and its ilk. Finland, in common with every other industrialized country, is experiencing evidence of the symptoms of urban disconnect with the rural producers, the flawed philosophies of animal rights and preservation, or the prohibition of use of natural resources as opposed to conservation and "wise use". Suicidal and sadly naïve. The new shift in FBI change in policy listing "special interest" terrorism as an issue, specifically noting animal and eco-focused terrorism, made the front page of the largest Scandinavian paper in the region while I was in Finland.

A highlight of the trip was seeing old friends who were working on building a coalition of resource producers. Before I left Finland, I was told that the timber people, a $2 billion a year industry, were already considering the needs of the fur farming industry when legislation was being discussed. "How will this impact our friends in fur farming?" was the question.

Several Finnish coalition members are planning to attend the Alliance for America's Fly In For Freedom in DC in May of 1999. The Fly In brings animal and resource-based industry workers together from all over America and several countries. Carrol Quigley wrote a modern history of the world called "Tragedy and Hope" in which he states that the strength of Western civilization is "inclusive diversity." It is great to see the concept of "inclusive diversity" spreading around the world. We wish the fledgling Finnish group much luck.

Thank you to the Finnish Fur Breeders' Association, Finnish Fur Sales, Fur Finland and the Federation of Forest Industries for so kindly hosting my stay. And a great big thank you to my "tour guide", Finnish Fur Sales communications manager Päivi Mononen-Mikkilä, who worked so hard to make my stay productive and enjoyable.

For more information, visit:

Finnish Fur Breeders Association

Or contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, 826 Orange Avenue, #506, Coronado, CA 92118 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

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