Google Accused of Felling 300 Hectares of Forest for a Finnish Data Centre

Google’s project company cleared more than 300 hectares of forest in northern Finland for data‑centre construction at Muhos and Kajaani without completing the environmental assessment Finland’s regulator says was legally required. The Licensing and Supervisory Authority had told Tuike Finland Oy in May that any permanent clearing above 200 hectares must undergo an assessment, yet satellite images show felling continued through August and included four nature sites designated to be spared in the local plan. The land was bought nearly two years ago from state forest enterprise Metsähallitus - four parcels totalling about 1,400 hectares sold for more than €27 million - and Google recently announced a €13 billion data‑centre investment in Finland. Excavation and blasting began at the Otanmäki site in August while both sites remain under building bans as their plans are appealed.

Regulatory and municipal responses are mixed: the regulator has opened an inquiry and says both assessments are unfinished and will consider enforcement measures, while Muhos municipality says it has issued no building permit and treats private felling as outside routine municipal oversight. Google’s communications manager asserts the work complied with the Forest Act and cites site‑wide nature surveys; Tuike told the regulator it had checked compliance under forest and building law. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation called the clearing either gross incompetence or gross disregard for legislation, and the situation raises unresolved legal questions about permits, enforcement powers and whether the clearing should have been stopped pending the assessment.