I don't assume anyone can numerically define when a wilderness - more commonly here known as a kaira – loses its wilderness character. For example, what is the amount of noise that still blends into its environment so that organisms (including us) can feel at peace in the wilderness?
Roads, by definition, destroy kaira, which in finnish means a roadless area between two major rivers. Roads and kaira simply do not coexist. Beyond this definition, I don't think there is any precise break point at which change occurs - not even if we all might agree that the Pulju Wilderness Area is wilderness, while the southern "Forestry Zone" is not. What is wilderness to an urban tourist may not feel that way to a local. The wilderness of a Hetta-dweller, on the other hand, might be something else to a species truly dependent on the wilderness, such as an eagle whose nesting is disturbed by engine noise, or mycelium networks spread over hundreds of kilometres.
But while the definition of wilderness is fluid, everyone can listen to the environments, look at the facts and draw their own conclusions. And at the same time we ask ourselves: are we really ready for kaira to disappear forever?
erämaa alue
