Safeguarding the Saimaa Ringed Seal (Saimaa Seal LIFE)

The Saimaa ringed seal is an extremely endangered seal species only found in Saimaa, a large lake complex in eastern Finland. There are slightly over 300 individuals currently in the wild. The most severe threats to the seal population are fishing and disturbance during breeding. Saimaa seals also need snow and ice to dig their lairs and climate change also poses an increasingly serious long term threat. A Finnish national conservation strategy and action plan for the Saimaa ringed seal was adopted in 2011, in order to improve the conservation status of the species.

Using a diverse range of measures, the project promotes the safeguarding of the Saimaa seal and the efforts to reach a favourable conservation status of the species. The Saimaa Seal LIFE project implements the Saimaa seal protection action plan, drawn up under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment and in broad-based cooperation with the key stakeholders.