New nature reserves were established or purchased for nature conservation purposes in 70 different locations.
Several new nature reserves were established in Kanta- and Päijät-Hämee last year. In addition, several sites were purchased in the provinces for nature conservation purposes. The areas cover a total of 695 hectares.
– Landowners are very much interested in voluntary forest protection. We always have about 50 objects in the queue, which are mainly forests, says Pohjonen. The work queue is growing all the time
According to Pohjonen, many forest owners themselves recognize the conservation value of their forest, and offer it to the ely center for protection.
– However, not all the sites offered meet the conservation criteria, but the best ones are selected.
Forest owners were paid a total of approximately 2.5 million euros in compensation for forest protection last year. In addition, ten nature reserves were established at the landowner’s request free of charge as part of the national Gift of Nature campaign.
Mainly old-growth forests
The largest sites protected by a private forest owner were approximately 70 hectares of forest of great diversity in Sysmä and a 49-hectare forest area in Lope.
– The protected forest area at the end is versatile. There is a lot of deciduous and grove forest, where there is, for example, rotten wood and old forest, describes forestry expert Petri Pohjonen.
The average size of otherwise protected sites was about 8.5 hectares. The main part of the protected habitats were old forests that are significant for biodiversity.
According to the Finnish Natural Resources Agency, the share of forests protected in different ways is 7.2 percent in Kanta-Hämee and 4.4 percent in Päijät-Hämee.
Even the protection of bogs is based on voluntary work
In addition to forest protection, Kanta- and Päijät-Häme also invested in swamp protection, which receives funding from the Ministry of the Environment’s HELMI habitat program. Last year, a total of 182 hectares of bogs were protected in Häme.
– Swamp sites are most often found by getting a hint about the site, which we then go to see. It can be difficult for a landowner to understand the value of his own bog, says Pohjonen. Protection is always based on voluntariness.
Private protected areas were established in 12 areas with a total of 137 hectares, and seven hectares of bogs were bought for the state in nine different real estate transactions. Landowners received a total of more than half a million euros in compensation for swamp protection.
The largest single protected marsh area is located in Hartola Isosuo. Isosuo, which is more than 55 hectares in size, is part of the national Gift of Nature campaign. The marsh was thus protected at the landowner’s request without compensation.
The Hämälä bogs, and especially the larger bogs, are mainly oasis bogs. The goal of bog protection is to include the most valuable mapped bog sites, which in Häme, for example, have a total of about 1,500 hectares.