Google accused of destroying 300 hectares of forest for data center. Nature group demands work halt until ‘in compliance with the law’

Google is accused of clearing about 300 hectares of Finnish forest for a data-center project. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation has called for the project to be suspended until it is clear whether it complies with the law.

As first reported by Gadget Review, Finland’s supervisory agency, LVV, is examining whether Tuike Finland Oy, Google’s Finnish project company, completed a required environmental-impact assessment before work began. The permanent land-use conversion reportedly exceeds 200 hectares.

The cleared area is reportedly equivalent to roughly 500 football fields. LVV has not issued a finding, and the inquiry is still ongoing.

Nature group calls for work to stop

The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation wants work to pause while that check runs. Chair Hanna Halmeenpää told AFP, “In our view, operations at this construction site should be suspended until it is clarified whether the project is in compliance with the law.” The group has asked LVV to halt activity at the site. Gadget Review notes that no suspension has been reported so far.

Halmeenpää also points to satellite imagery. She says it shows four areas listed as nature sites in the local plan were bulldozed. Her claim has not been independently confirmed.

Google offered a different account. The company told AFP that “tree felling activities have been taking place in compliance with Forestry Act requirements,” according to Gadget Review. Google also said it had conducted ecological surveys as part of the zoning and environmental-impact assessment processes. It added that areas of high environmental value were protected during forestry operations.

The two accounts may not conflict as sharply as they sound. Compliance with forestry rules does not necessarily answer whether a separate assessment requirement was satisfied. Questions over environmental reviews have also become part of disputes surrounding data-center development in the U.S. These are different legal tracks, and LVV appears to be weighing how they fit together. That question sits at the center of the case.

The site is part of a much larger plan. Reuters reports that Google announced at least €13 billion in Finnish AI infrastructure investment through 2028. The projects cover several towns, including Hamina and Kajaani. Google has called it its largest single investment in Europe.

Projects at that scale need land, power, concrete and timber. The amount of land involved can itself become a point of contention, as a Texas community recently learned after 87 acres that had been donated as a park were sold to a data-center developer. When construction outpaces review, environmental costs can arrive before anyone has formally signed off. 

No timetable for the inquiry has been reported. The outcome could matter beyond this one site. If the agency finds that forestry compliance alone is not enough, other developers in Finland may have to sequence their projects differently. European regulators could also take note of how the case is handled.