There are 55 Leader local action groups in Mainland Finland and one in the Åland Islands. The LAGs cover all of Finland’s rural areas, which have a total population of 2.5 million people.

The areas covered by a single LAG have on average 45,000 inhabitants, ranging from 14,000 to almost 100,000 inhabitants.

Any local resident may take part in their local group’s activities by running or participating in a project, or by becoming a member of the LAG, which is a registered rural development association.

LAGs’ activities have a strong local focus. They strive to develop the countryside through initiatives taken by local people. In addition to funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), LAGs can also obtain funds from Finnish regional development programmes or EU Structural Funds programmes.

All European Leader principles are applied in the Finnish Leader activities. LAGs’ work in Finland also features some special national principles, designed to give them a more prominent position and increase awareness of their work:

• LAGs are registered non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with participation open to all interested residents and organisations in rural aras.

• Their boards must have tripartite structures, with one third of board members being municipal officials and appointees, one third being representatives of local associations, and one third being individual rural residents and enterprises.

• Municipalities are committed to LAGs’ work, and are obliged to contribute 20% of public funding as annual one-off payments ("lump sums").

• LAGs select projects for financing after assessing their appropriateness. Finland’s regional Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment make the final decision on granting funds to projects after assessing their legality.