The Foundation for Better Nature has acquired a small property north of Lake Pyhäjärvi in Asikkala for conservation purposes. The protected area is well placed in relation to other protected areas in the area.
This property was found and purchased by the Foundation with the help of active local nature lovers. Anne Quarshie, a Päijät-Häme cottager who researches and teaches sustainable business practices that respect nature, spotted the property for sale. Matti Peltonen, an active member of The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation in Southern Häme, was involved in the survey of the area’s natural values.
Matti Peltonen explains: “Every hectare as an extension of an existing nature reserve is an improvement for the future of the area, and a better thing than a hectare somewhere else as a separate object. This one hectare site is surrounded by more than 76 hectares of existing protected areas, and is located in the middle of Birdlife’s MAALI-defined area.”
The one hectare property is largely covered in young birch and silver fir, with rowan and spruce as understory. There is also some spruce and a few medium sized strips. The rocky part is rich in lichens, older pines and a few coppice trees.
Anne Quarshie is delighted that the site has been put under conservation: “We summer residents have long been looking for suitable sites for the Foundation in this area. Let this small area that has been chosen for conservation be the first step – hopefully we will see many more.”
The site borders the 28-hectare Pitkäkallio Forest, a nationally valuable old-growth forest protected under Natura 2000, for about 80 metres along its north-western boundary. The area is owned by Metsähallitus Nature Services.
To the east of the site is the Vähäpää bird wetland (39 ha), which is part of the national bird water protection programme, a nationally valuable bird water area and protected as a private nature reserve.
Niko Nappu, Executive Director of the Foundation for Better Nature, hopes that more and more people will take action to support the Foundation’s activities. “Locals know their local forests and can help raise funds to buy the forest for conservation through the foundation,” says Nappu. She continues, “The Foundation also accepts land donations and bequests. We want to leave our beloved and rich Finnish nature to posterity.”
For further information and contact:
Niko Nappu, Executive Director, For Better Nature Foundation sr.
+358-50-511 6933, niko.nappu@plups.fi
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