{"id":947442,"date":"2026-10-26T22:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/947442\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:48:09","slug":"wolves-are-roaming-finnish-streets-after-google-cut-down-1300-acres-of-trees-to-build-a-data-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/947442\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolves are roaming Finnish streets after Google cut down 1,300 acres of trees to build a data center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google has called<\/a> Finland its home for over 15 years, but its most recent<\/a> move in data-center expansion in the country has brought some unwanted neighbors for nearby villages. Wolves have descended upon Finnish villages in Muhos and Otanmaki following Google\u2019s illegal felling of hundreds of thousands of trees to prepare for a multibillion-euro data-center expansion\u2014prompting a stop order from Finnish authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest,\u201d Anni Ranta, a resident of Otanmaki, told<\/a> The Guardian. \u201cThey fled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Finnish subsidiary, Tuike Finland Oy, cleared an estimated 330 hectares\u2014or 815 acres\u2014of forest near Finnish town Muhos and almost 200 hectares\u2014or about 494 acres\u2014near Otanmaki, before completing required environmental assessments. The clearings involved an estimated 400,000 trees across the two locations according<\/a> to The Guardian.<\/p>\n

Finnish authorities ordered the tech giant to suspend all preparatory work at both sites while environmental assessments are completed. The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority ordered<\/a> Google to halt preparatory activities at Muhos and the Otanmaki site near Kajaani. The authority said the work included removing trees and topsoil, constructing access roads and making other changes that could significantly alter the environment before the required assessments had been completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our opinion, the measures in question will change the environment and cause impacts, the identification and assessment of which are among the key objectives of the EIA procedure,\u201d Tommi Muilu, Head of the Environmental Department at the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority, said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google posits it acted in \u201cgood faith\u201d and did not intend to cause environmental harm outside of Finland\u2019s statutes. The company also announced<\/a> plans to plant trees across 130 hectares at Muhos. The planned replanting covers less than half the area cleared at Muhos alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance,\u201d a Google spokesperson told<\/a> CNBC. \u201c\u201cWe acted in good faith under the Forestry Act, and ran nature surveys and put in place measures to protect high-value areas. As we continue our long-term work in the region, we are advancing our landscaping and biodiversity plans, which include tree planting across 130 hectares at Muhos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The clearances are part of Google\u2019s planned<\/a> \u20ac13 billion (about $15.1 billion) investment in Finland, announced<\/a> in September. The company intends to expand its data center infrastructure across the country as demand grows for cloud computing, digital services and AI workloads.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle is supporting clean energy projects, and dedicated nature and community funds to support local biodiversity, education, research, and workforce development,\u201d Google\u2019s press release<\/a> read.<\/p>\n

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.<\/p>\n

Finland\u2019s Google bet<\/p>\n

Finland has become<\/a> an attractive destination for data center developers because<\/a> of its cool climate, access to low-carbon electricity and availability of land. Cooler temperatures can reduce the energy required to cool servers while the country\u2019s electricity mix includes nuclear, wind and hydropower.<\/p>\n

Google has operated data centers in Finland for years. Its existing<\/a> Hamina facility has been operational since 2011, using seawater from the Gulf of Finland in its cooling system\u2014a design the tech giant has touted as an alternative to conventional cooling approaches. The facility also draws on Finland\u2019s electricity infrastructure.<\/p>\n

And Finland went out of its way to land Google\u2019s $15.1 billion project. \u201cFinland is an attractive destination for investments, and attracting further investment remains a top priority,\u201d Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in Google\u2019s announcement<\/a> in September. \u201cGoogle\u2019s decision is a clear testament to our strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nordic country welcomed the tech giant with open arms. Google partnered with Fingrid\u2014Finland\u2019s national electricity transmission system operator\u2014and Business Finland\u2014Finland\u2019s official government organization and public funding agency\u2014to identify locations for the company\u2019s infrastructure. In September, it also signed<\/a> a 22-year deal with Fortum<\/a> to help extend the life of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which Google says<\/a> supplies about 10% of Finland\u2019s electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the lifetime extension investment program, the plant\u2013which currently employs approximately 580 people and provides 10% of Finland\u2019s electricity\u2013could not continue operations beyond 2030,\u201d Google said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cKeeping this clean energy asset online for decades to come will help stabilize electricity prices and support long-term resilience of Finland\u2019s grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

But according<\/a> to the European Commission, data centers are a growing environmental and climate challenge due to their large consumption of electricity and water needs. Their carbon footprint also depends on whether the electricity powering them comes from low-carbon or fossil-fuel sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainable, flexible and well-designed data centres that can adjust their electricity use to the grid conditions, can help lower the overall cost of the electricity system, improve grid stability, and integrate more renewable energy,\u201d the Commission wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google has called Finland its home for over 15 years, but its most recent move in data-center expansion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,9564,295,6816,7311,192,25382,255947,66,323],"class_list":["post-947442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-data-centers","tag-environment","tag-european-union","tag-finland","tag-google","tag-google-cloud","tag-google-cloud-platform","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}