Nature

Metsähallitus has also noted the significant economic impact of the Punkaharju nature reserve.

The Punkaharju nature reserve and research forests bring significant jobs and money to the region.

According to Metsähallitus statistics, the Punkaharju nature reserve and research forests provide around 200 man-years of work for the area. The total revenue impact of the nature reserve is estimated at EUR 24 million per year.

National parks and other recreational areas generate local income through the use of services such as accommodation, restaurants and programmes by hikers.

Punkaharju had almost 140,000 visits last year. For the sake of comparison, the employment effect of Repovede National Park, which has the same size and number of visits, is only almost 40 person-years. It produces a total revenue effect of 4.5 million euros locally for the region.

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Small Punkaharju nature reserve generates many times more local jobs and income than Repovesi National ParkRead More »

Visits to Lapland’s national parks were higher last year than before the pandemic, but fell short of the 2021 levels. The new Salla National Park also attracted visitors.

According to Metsähallitus, the most popular national park in Finland was, as usual, Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, which was visited nearly 600 000 times last year. The first year of 2022 was historically busy, with more visits in January and March than ever before.

The Urho Kekkonen National Park, located in Savukoski, Sodankylä and Inari, was the second most visited national park in Finland with over 400 000 visitors.

Visits to Lapland’s national parks continue to increase, if we look at the longer-term trend. Hikers, cyclists and other visitors have discovered Lapland’s summer in a whole new way over the past ten years, says Metsähallitus in a press release.

National parks also had a significant impact on the local economy.

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The most popular national park in Finland last year was Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park – other national parks in Lapland also ranked wellRead More »

According to the researcher, the Forest Movement protesters are trying to change attitudes towards the use of natural resources.

Metsähallitus’ logging in the Aalistunturi area of Lapland continues despite protests.

– Often, nature conservation has focused on defending one particular place in nature that is considered irreplaceable,” says Nykänen.

For example, the last logging in the Aalistunturi logging area in Kolari was ten years ago.

Now the protestors’ goal is not just the protection of one forest area. Activists of Metsälikuen say that they defend not only the forests of the Aalistunturi area but also the diversity of Finland as a whole.

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The Aalistunturi protests are a completely new kind of nature activism, says researcherRead More »

Of the nature sites maintained by Metsähallitus in Lake Saimaa, the popularity of Linnansaari remained unchanged. Nationally, the number of visitors to national parks fell slightly last year from the highs of the early 1990s.

In Saimaa, Linnansaari National Park maintained its popularity, although at the same time most national parks saw a decline in popularity last year.

According to Metsähallitus, Linnansaari in the Haukvede river basin had about 36 000 visits both last year and the year before.

Of all the nature sites in Lake Saimaa, Punkaharju was the most popular, with slightly more than a quarter fewer visits last year than the year before. Last year, almost 140 000 people visited Punkaharju’s ridge landscapes.

The number of visits to the small Kolovesi National Park decreased by 16 percent. There were almost 15,000 visits to the national park, which is focused on paddling.

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Visits to Punkaharju Nature Reserve down by more than a quarter last yearRead More »

Life on Earth has adapted to the fact that a light day is always followed by a dark night. However, because of light pollution, darkness is a dwindling resource.

Shine beetles are a species of beetle whose females shine a green light to attract flying moths.

The species lives for several years as a larva, but the adult stage is very short, lasting only a few weeks. Because the species is dependent on darkness and has little time to find a mate, light pollution is a potential threat to shiny worms.

Elgert found in his study that light pollution affects the ability of shiny worms to find a mate, as it is challenging for males to find shiny females under the lights.

This problem would be solved if the females moved away from the light to darker places, but instead they respond to the light by hiding more and shining less. This is probably because the light pollution makes the females believe that the morning has already dawned.

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Study: light pollution can be fatal to shade worms, whose luminosity and reproduction depend on darknessRead More »

Helvetinjärvi continues to be the most popular national park in Pirkanmaa.

Finns’ greatest enthusiasm for visiting national parks seems to have waned. Visitor statistics published by Metsähallitus on Wednesday show that in Pirkanmaa, for example, the number of visitors to Helvetinjärvi National Park dropped significantly from 2021.

Helvetinjärvi continues to be the most popular national park in Pirkanmaa. It gained great popularity during the roaring years and visitor numbers doubled. Now the number of visitors has levelled off. In 2022, Lake Helvetinjärvi was visited 46 300 times, a 31% drop compared to the previous year.

Metsähallitus says in a press release that new hiking trails are planned for Lake Helvetinjärvi in the coming years. During the past year, maintenance roads, parking areas and foundations for new rest stop structures were paved along the future routes. New service roads were also built in Heinälahti and Helvetinkolu.

There was also a slight decrease in the number of visits to Seitseminen National Park. In the course of 2022, Seitsimeni was visited 43,500 times, which is ten percent less than the previous year. During the last year, work on updating the management and use plan of Seitsimenen National Park was started, which defines the measures for the recreational use of the national park for the next ten years.

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Visits to Pirkanmaa National Parks have levelled off after years of peak periodsRead More »

In the year 2021, for example, Oulanka National Park was still congested. Now, the number of visitors to national parks has returned to the levels seen before the koruna pandemic.

Visitor numbers to national parks fell slightly last year from their peak in the boom years. Metsähallitus attributes this to the opening up of society after the pandemic, general price increases and higher fuel prices.

For example, 176 000 visits were made to Oulanka National Park in Kuusamo and 97 200 to Syötte National Park in Pudasjärvi last year. The Rokua National Park in the Utajärvi, Vaala and Muhos regions attracted 54 800 visitors.

Hossa National Park in Suomussalmi had 77 700 visits last year and Hiidenport National Park in Sotkamo 11 300. Hossa and Hiidenport also celebrated five years and 40 years respectively last year.

According to Metsähallitus, the number of visits to Kainu, Koilisma and Pohjois-Ostrobothnia national parks and other excursion destinations maintained by Metsähallitus decreased by an average of 16 percent last year from 2021.

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Visitor numbers to national parks also fell in Kainuu, Northeast Finland and North OstrobothniaRead More »

The biggest drop in visits occurred between March and May. A total of 106 000 visits were made to the four national parks in Central Finland.

The number of visitors to the national parks in Central Finland has levelled off after the increase in visitor numbers caused by the koruna, Metsähallitus informs. In 2022, the number of visits will be 11-16% lower than in the previous year, depending on the park.

The biggest drop in visits occurred between March and May. However, a total of 106 000 visits were still made to the four national parks in Central Finland.

The South Konnevesi National Park in the municipalities of Konnevesi and Rautalamm continues to be the most popular in Central Finland with 34 200 visits. The drop compared to 2021 was 11%.

The number of visits to Leivonmäki National Park in the year was 28,700, a drop of 14 percent. 17,900 visits were made to Pyhä-Häki National Park Saarijärvi, i.e. 16 percent less than in 2021.

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Visits to Central Finland’s national parks decreased after the coronation, with Etelä-Konnevesi the most popularRead More »

The next time the volunteers will be knocking over utility poles on Lake Saimaa this coming weekend. Metsähallitus has permission to continue the pile-driving until mid-February.

Last weekend, the first collisions of auxiliary reindeer to help the endangered Saimaa ringed seal in its breeding season began on Lake Saimaa.

– It is estimated that over 50 utility stacks were knocked over last weekend. So far, I haven’t received accurate information from all the groups,” says Alakoski.

According to Alakoski, there were several dozen volunteers knocking over the auxiliary pile.

In Puumala, the cinemas were made slightly smaller than usual over the weekend, so that the ice can withstand the weight of a large snow mountain. Ice can loosen the weight of a large kinos and be a danger to the cubs born in the kinos in February-March.

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Volunteers are once again knocking over stakes to help the Saimaa ringed seal nesting – over 50 stakes were knocked over last weekendRead More »

Lauri Heiskanen, PhD candidate, says that climate change will reduce the carbon sink of Northern Lapland if extreme weather events hit every third growing season.

Heiskanen says that in the long term, southern plants will move north.

– If the new ecosystem consists mainly of conifers, the carbon sink can be expected to increase. But if it consists mainly of broadleaved trees, the carbon sink will decrease,” says Heiskanen.

The thesis is based on measurements taken in Utsjoki and Inari in 2017-2019.

Carbon sequestration briefly turned into a carbon source

In the dissertation, it was found that the warm spring season brings forward and accelerates the ability of plants to bind carbon. However, in Tunturikoivik, part of the advantage gained was lost due to insect damage.

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Dissertation: extreme weather events weaken carbon sinks in Northern Lapland – warming springs increase carbon sequestrationRead More »