We Restore

Restoration refers to actions that help return areas degraded by human activity to a more natural state. While nature can slowly heal itself, restoration work accelerates the process.

In 2024, the Foundation for Better Nature implemented two major restoration projects on its lands. The first took place in late autumn on Vehkosaari, Hollola, aiming to improve the island’s herb-rich forest habitat and support the endangered white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos). This was achieved by logging spruce trees to restore the deciduous forest environment the woodpecker needs.

Meanwhile, in Hartola’s Isosuo peatland—where the foundation owns roughly 160 hectares of largely pristine peatland—ditches dug decades ago were blocked and filled. This work was designed to retain water in the peatland and reduce the runoff of humic subtances into nearby waters like the lake Jääsjärvi and river Tainionvirta. Keeping water in the peatland raises the water table, which slows peat decomposition into carbon dioxide and helps peatland vegetation and other specialized peatland species recover. Both projects were carried out in cooperation with the Häme ELY Centre and funded through the HELMI program.

In addition, the foundation supported board member Marko Röhr’s forest restoration project in Puula, part of our ongoing Puula conservation campaign (www.pelastaapuula.fi). The project was planned by the Etelä-Savo ELY Centre. With the help of a skilled forester in the field work, we were able to get our hands dirty, so to speak, when some of the felled spruce trunks were driven away from the island site by volunteers in March 2024.

Restoring Isosuo: Progress in 2024

This details the first part of Isosuo’s restoration process, which concluded just before Christmas 2024 and the first heavy snows.

The foundation had been considering restoring Isosuo for a while. Though large parts were already protected by us, more land was needed for an effective restoration plan. In spring 2024, the foundation acquired an additional 25 hectares—supported by the Ympäristöbonus donation we received from Partioaitta—completing a contiguous area suitable for restoration.

With the land secured, we began discussions with the Häme ELY Centre. Field visits and computer modeling quickly revealed that restoration would be feasible. The ELY Centre developed a detailed plan, negotiating and coordinating with all relevant stakeholders. Once the plan was finalized and approvals were in place, we applied for HELMI funding.

This was a large, complex project requiring mechanical work in multiple parts of the peatland. While the process sounds straightforward on paper, it demanded significant expertise. Planning restoration in unique raised bogs like Isosuo posed special challenges: each bog is different, and desk plans must be validated with field observations. After careful preparation, the plan was ready for execution. The Ministry’s tendering process identified a skilled contractor who brought both technical know-how and sensitivity to the bog’s unique character.

---

Fieldwork began in late autumn. An excavator was transported to the western part of Isosuo, where nearly 20 peat dams were built across the main ditch, raising the bog’s water level. Care was taken to minimize disturbance; dams were landscaped, and the peat pits used to supply material were shaped irregularly to mimic natural features. Later, work moved to the bog’s eastern edge, where additional dams and V-shaped water protection dams were constructed in the ditches.

As with any restoration, plans evolved in response to the bog’s unique conditions. Additional dams were installed in the western section, completed just before Christmas. During the final days, with snow incoming and water raising, the contractor reported from his excavator that he’d work through the night to finish on time. Thankfully, everything went smoothly—the dams were completed, and the excavator made it out from the peatland.

When we visited Isosuo with the ELY Centre’s planner in February 2025, we were thrilled to see water levels exactly at the target height in the western bog. It will be exciting to follow the transformation of the bog’s nature and landscape in the years ahead.

Continuing the restoration of Isosuo requires new land acquisitions – help by making a donation.

Ecological compensation

Finland’s Nature Conservation Act, which took effect in 2023, established a legal basis for voluntary ecological compensation. In 2025, new guidelines were published to support practical implementation. These provide concrete calculation methods for determining the hectares of natural value lost and required for compensation, along with field instructions for assessing the ecological status of all habitat types found in Finland.

In practice, ecological compensation means restoring or protecting nature in another area to offset damage done elsewhere. The compensation area must be large enough to fully balance the ecological losses. The type of compensation measure chosen affects the required size of the compensation area. The more effectively and quickly the measure improves the compensation site’s ecological quality, the smaller the area needed.

Compensation must also happen within the same or a neighboring vegetation zone, and the habitats must be ecologically similar. For example, if a herb-rich forest is cleared for construction in Vantaa, the loss could be compensated by protecting a sufficient area of similar forest within our area of operation in Sysmä.