‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for data centre

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If you meant to share a passage of text, please paste it and I’ll rewrite it in fluent, natural English.-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p{border-top:none}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]:before{content:””;width:1px;background-color:var(–headerBorder);height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:.5px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.furniture-wrapper{grid-template-columns:[title-start headline-start meta-start] repeat(3,1fr) [meta-end standfirst-start] repeat(5,1fr) [title-end headline-end standfirst-end portrait-start] repeat(8,1fr) [portrait-end];grid-template-rows:[title-start portrait-start] .25fr [title-end headline-start] 1fr [headline-end standfirst-start meta-start] .75fr [standfirst-end meta-end portrait-end]}.furniture-wrapper #meta:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{width:620px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]:before{left:-.5px}}.furniture-wrapper .article-header,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title]{grid-area:title}.furniture-wrapper .article-header .content__labels>div,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] .content__labels>div{padding-top:2px}.furniture-wrapper #headline,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline],.furniture-wrapper .headline{grid-area:headline}.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{font-weight:600;max-width:620px;font-size:32px}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{max-width:540px;font-size:50px}}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines]{margin-right:0}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines]{display:none}}.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4 svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines] svg{stroke:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper #meta,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]{grid-area:meta}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper #meta,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]{margin-right:0}}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__comment,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__comment{border-color:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .content__meta-container_dcr>div>gu-island,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .content__meta-container_dcr>div>gu-island{display:none}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]{grid-area:standfirst;margin-left:-10px;padding-left:10px;position:relative}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]{padding-top:2px}}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p{font-weight:400;font-size:20px;padding-bottom:14px}.furniture-wrapper #main-media,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=media]{position:relative;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:2px;grid-area:portrait}.furniture-wrapper #main-media div div,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=media] div div{width:100%;margin-inline:0}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper #main-media,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=media]{margin-bottom:0}}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.furniture-wrapper #main-media,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=media]{width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px));margin-left:-10px}}@media (max-width: 46.24em) and (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper #main-media,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=media]{margin-left:-20px}}.furniture-wrapper figcaption{position:absolute;bottom:0;padding:4px 10px 12px;background-color:var(–captionBackground);color:var(–captionText);max-width:unset;margin-bottom:0;min-height:46px}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span{color:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span svg{fBehind a wire fence lies a vast, gaping wound in the earth. Before Google arrived a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees covered the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone. After the tech company illegally cleared the entire area to build a data centre—taking even the topsoil with it—all that remains is a vast expanse of mud marked by machinery tracks, puddles, and mounds of earth, roots, and branches. Residents say brown water flowing off the site is entering a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River.

“It doesn’t end. It goes on and on,” says Mari Annala, an ecologist from the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL), looking at drone footage of the former forest from the perimeter.

View image in fullscreen Mari Annala is a Finnish environmental expert, researcher and board member of the Oulu region district of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. Photograph: Jarno Artika/The Guardian

With 145 new data centres at various stages of planning, Finland has found itself at the forefront of tech companies’ latest push. As well as its relative geopolitical and geological stability and abundance of land, the cool climate makes it especially attractive for saving on energy costs. Map

Earlier this month, the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) ordered Google to temporarily stop work at Muhos and another site about 100km south-east in the village of Otanmäki after it failed to complete the necessary environmental impact assessments before clear-cutting the land. The news has prompted widespread outcry and a national reckoning over what role, if any, the country should play in the global rush to build data centres to keep up with rapid AI development.

Last week, Google’s Finland country manager, Antti Järvinen, apologised for the forest clearings but claimed the company had acted “on the best understanding we had of the legislation at the time.”

View image in fullscreen In the northern Finnish town of Muhos, the forest has already been cut down on land acquired by Google, with excavators now clearing the ground and rumbling trucks shuttling back and forth to the construction area located next to major power lines. Photograph: Alessandro Rampazzo/AFP/Getty Images

Muhos and Otanmäki are part of a €13bn AI infrastructure project by Google that has attracted criticism from Donald Trump, who would rather the centres were built in the US and has publicly called for the company to reconsider. It is the biggest ever project of its kind in the Nordic country. The Finnish government, which has presided over deep spendiCuts have encouraged investment. Last month, when Google’s plans were announced, the country’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said attracting investment was a “top priority” and “the value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment.” He said the Google deal would “deliver lasting benefits for both parties.” But revelations about Google’s misconduct have raised public concern over what these deals mean for nearby communities, energy prices for Finnish households, and Finland’s natural environment—a national source of pride. The datacentre push is likely to become a key election issue when Finns go to the polls in April.

Google’s clearcut area is 3km long and 2km wide, 330 hectares in total, and 400 metres from the Oulujoki River. In addition to the 250,000 trees felled at Muhos, Annala estimates that another 150,000 trees were felled at Otanmäki. Because the trees were felled illegally, she says wood from the two sites cannot be sold to wood-processing plants. The move has also raised questions about why Finland’s renewable energy sources are being used to power international corporations.

More than 93,000 people have signed a petition demanding more datacentre regulation and a fee to compensate local communities for environmental damage. Since the scandal broke, Orpo has described what happened in Muhos as a “cold shower.”

Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of SLL’s board, said she was incredulous when she discovered Google’s lawbreaking. “At first I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I have never heard that any company has done anything like this in Finland.” She said the system depends heavily on trust, which she believes Google took advantage of. “They bought the vast land area and they just started to cut it, just like that,” she said. “It’s pure arrogance and it’s amazing.”

The speed of developments had shocked the country, she said. “Many people are just watching the news and asking each other: ‘What’s happening now? What can we do about it? And do we have to take all these datacentre projects in Finland?'”

Jussi Kangasharju, head of computer science at the University of Helsinki, said that while datacentres bring a limited number of jobs and potentially boost the local economy, the benefits on a national level are minimal. “Really, for Finland, there are no benefits,” he said. “They are international companies serving international customers. Very little corporate tax goes to Finland. Datacentres ultimately have very little benefit for anyone except the datacentre operator.”

With legislation still playing catch-up, there is a rush to get projects under way as fast as possible. Some are calling for a centralised body to coordinate datacentre projects, rather than leaving so much of the decision-making to municipalities that are likely to prioritise the immediate needs of the local area. In Muhos and Otanmäki, there are people who support the projects, along with the jobs and land taxes they will bring to the local area. But many believe they have been sold short by municipalities.

Antti Jakonen, who lives in Muhos, said that although the trees felled represented a small fraction of Finland’s overall forests, he objected to the manner in which it had been carried out. “It has been done in the wrong way. American style. No sense. No sense at all.”He said the former entrepreneur and fisherman wants Google to make up for the damage by helping to restore the local salmon population, which was destroyed decades ago by hydropower.

In Otanmäki, the harm to nature and to residents’ daily lives is being felt keenly. When the trees were cut down, the wolves that had lived there came into the village, said Anni Ranta, 53, whose family has lived there for generations.

View image in fullscreenPentti Korhonen, a wilderness guide, has lived in Otanmäki for 12 years. Photograph: Jarno Artika/The Guardian

A former mining village, the area is known for its rare earth elements. Ranta’s family lives in the centre of the village, next to a triangular church spire and a former bar that has been empty for years. The peaceful forest used to stretch for miles from the village. Now the sound of construction next to the cleared Google site echoes through the area.

“We had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest,” said Ranta. “They fled. What worries me about the data centres is also the noise, because this is hard rock soil. Even when we are standing here talking,” she added, stamping her feet, “it’s like a drum.”

She feels so strongly against Google’s arrival that she is thinking of moving away. She also fears the data centre could make the village a target for Russia, with which Finland shares a long border. “I don’t want them here,” she said of Google. “I don’t want them in Finland at all. I don’t like the whole idea of AI and the world changing and the way it’s changing. It’s going too fast, too soon.”

View image in fullscreenVesa Hyyryläinen, a biologist, drives past the construction area next to the Google clearcuts in Otanmäki. Photograph: Jarno Artika/The Guardian

Her father, Pentti Korhonen, a retired wilderness guide, said that since the forest was destroyed, the water in the stream has turned brown. “There is no need at all for data centres in Finland. No need for data centres at all,” he said.

Vesa Hyyryläinen, chair of the local SLL district, said three-toed woodpeckers that nested in the forest had been pushed out. “All of us nature conservationists are very worried about our Finnish political situation and politics,” said the biologist and osprey expert. “I wonder why we have to sacrifice so much of our nature. They give everything away too easily.”

He said, however, that he understood why authorities were trying to bring in new sources of investment and jobs, given the region’s ageing population. “Young people go to Helsinki and Berlin and Paris,” he said. “There are so few people. We have to sacrifice.”

View image in fullscreenHyyryläinen said: ‘I wonder why we have to sacrifice so much of our nature. They give everything away too easily.’ Photograph: Jarno Artika/The Guardian

Veli-Matti Uski, director general of the Ministry of the Environment, said the government was “monitoring the general development of the [data centre] sector, [and the] application of its legislation, and is prepared to propose legislative amendments as necessary”.

Google said it was working to protect water quality at the Muhos site and planned to plant trees across 130 hectares there. Conservationists say that figure is too low to have any real impact compared with the damage done by the tree felling.

A spokesperson said: “We have operated in Finland for 15 years and have always worked to meet or exceed zoning, environmental, health and safety requirements.

“After receiving the LVV letters on 6 October, we stopped preparatory works at Muhos and Kajaani [where the Otanmäki site is located] and have submitted a formal response to LVV confirming this.

“We will fully comply with LVV’s requests in this matter. We look forward to maintaining an active, open dialogue with all authorities to strengthen our partnership with Finland and local organisations.”

Frequently Asked Questions
Here are FAQs about the Google data centre treeclearing controversy in Finland

1 What happened with Google and the trees in Finland
Google cleared about 250000 trees in Finland to make way for a data centre Many people were angry because they say the company didnt follow the proper rules or permits

2 Where in Finland did this happen
The clearing took place in a forested area near one of Googles data centre sites in Finland Local residents and environmental groups noticed the largescale felling and raised the alarm

3 Why is this called pure arrogance
Critics used that phrase because they felt Google acted as if the rules didnt apply to it clearing a huge forest without proper approval and without much regard for local people or nature

4 Did Google actually break the law
Authorities and critics allege the felling went ahead without the required permits or in violation of Finnish environmental rules Google has said it aims to comply with local regulations but the dispute is ongoing

5 Why does Google need a data centre in Finland
Finland offers cool weather reliable clean energy and good connections to the rest of Europe That makes it an attractive place for large data centres

6 Why do data centres need so much land
Data centres are huge buildings full of servers plus power equipment and cooling systems They often need buffer land around them too which is why so much forest was cleared

7 How big is 250000 trees really
Its a very large area roughly the size of hundreds of football fields worth of forest For local communities it means lost woodland wildlife habitat and carbon storage

8 What do local people and environmental groups say
Theyre angry about the scale of the clearing the loss of biodiversity and what they see as a lack of consultation Many feel a foreign tech giant put profit ahead of Finnish nature

9 What are the environmental concerns
Cutting down forests removes trees that store carbon destroys habitats and can affect local water systems and recreation areas It also clashes with Finlands climate and biodiversity goals

10 What are the benefits of data centres like this
They create jobs bring investment and support the digital services people use every day Finland also gains from the tax revenue and infrastructure

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