State of the Environment
The nature of the Oulu region is very diverse. The low-lying coastal region is characterized by the sea and land uplift. In the east, the landscape is dominated by river valleys and their fields. The plain of Liminka is one of the largest growing areas in Finland. There are a few lakes near the coast and especially in the inland areas there are a lot of string bogs. Ridges and valleys are distinguishable in the landscape. The richest natural values are connected to the string bogs, emersion coasts and their waterflow habitats and the coastal meadows.
The Environment Office of the Oulu Region and its board of directors monitor the environment of the Oulu region. Different sectors of Environmental Protection monitor the development of the state of the environment continuously. For example, the Environment Office maintains continuous air quality measurement stations and collects and upkeeps information regarding waste management and water quality.
You can follow the development of the state of the environment in the Oulu region on the ArcGIS StoryMaps website: State of the Environment in the Oulu region (arcgis.com) (in Finnish).
The follow-up data on the state of the environment covers the city of Oulu as well as the municipalities of Hailuoto, Kempele, Liminka, Lumijoki, Muhos and Tyrnävä. The regional cooperation began in 2005 and the latest follow-up report is the third review of the environment in the region. The report includes information about the region’s natural conditions and environmental load and supervision. The goal is to discern the current state of the environment and its future development.
Interactive maps and other multimedia contents have been integrated into the story-form text data picturing the state of the environment and interfaces of official services have been utilized extensively. On top of the Environment Office’s own data, information is gathered from other official sources as well as from examinations and research on the region. Other official services producing information about the state of the environment, for example: the Centre of Economic Development, Transport, and the Environment of Northern Ostrobothnia, the Finnish Environment Institute, and Council of Oulu Region.