Nine companies and organisations that work on renewable energy are conserving 108 hectares of valuable nature in honor of Finland’s Independence Day. The conservation and restoration sites are located in Simo, Pudasjärvi, and Puolanka. The conservation and restoration are funded by Taaleri Energia, Fortum, Helen, Myrsky Energia, ABO Energy together with the Ålandsbanken Wind Power Fund, Eolus, Ilmatar, Neoen, and Renewables Finland (Suomen uusiutuvat ry).
Nature Gift to Finland (Luontolahja Suomelle) is a continuation of a previous project by Renewables Finland, which investigated the biodiversity impacts of wind and solar power value chains. Renewables Finland’s partner in organizing the Nature Gift was One Planet Oy. The joint project was announced in Helsinki on December 5 at Vanha ylioppilastalo. The opening speech of the event was delivered by Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Sari Multala.
In this joint project, drained peatland areas will be restored and subsequently protected. These actions will improve the habitats of endangered species, such as trout and threatened bird species, and reduce climate emissions caused by drained peatlands. On forested lands brook-side forests, spring complexes, and rocky terrain with cliffs will be conserved, alongside over 100-year-old forests approaching a natural state. The conservation and restoration funded by the companies are implemented by Hiilipörssi and Luonnonperintösäätiö.
Nature Gift to Finland is a tribute by the participating companies to the nature of 108-year-old Finland and a pilot project demonstrating the concrete actions companies can take to strengthen Finnish nature. The companies involved in the joint project are each developing their own nature-positive operating models, and this pilot project is one of many steps in the development of corporate nature work.
The value of the conservation and restoration package funded by the companies is 119 000 euros. The costs incurred from organizing the Nature Gift were funded by TT-Säätiö.
Nature Gift to Finland: Site Descriptions
The joint project involves the restoration and conservation of peatlands in Simo and Puolanka, as well as the conservation of forest and forest-peatland areas in Pudasjärvi.
Pirttimaansuo: Simo, 60 ha
Pirttimaansuo is a peatland area totaling approximately 60 hectares, where restoration measures will be implemented on drained sections covering about half of the area. The area, which also contains natural mire, will be protected in its entirety.
Pirttimaansuo is a typical aapa mire, where the center of the mire is clearly lower than the margins. A large main ditch has been dug through the center of Pirttimaansuo, slowly draining the entire mire basin. At the same time, peat decomposes into carbon dioxide released into the air, humus substances escape along the ditch into water bodies, and the mire biodiversity impoverishes. This negative development will be halted by restoring the mire’s water economy to a near-natural state by damming the marginal ditches, directing waters to the center of the mire, and blocking the central ditch.
Despite partial drainage, Pirttimaansuo has preserved its mire species relatively well. Based on observations from 2014, Pirttimaansuo hosted a good variety of species and endangered mire types: tall-sedge fens (suursaraneva), mesotrophic short-sedge fens, Sphagnum-rich short-sedge pine fens, mesotrophic fen-pine mires, dwarf shrub pine fens, and Sphagnum pine fens.
Based on species observations, the area featured purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea), Sphagnum subsecundum moss, dioecious sedge (Carex dioica), and in the central parts, livid sedge (Carex livida), which is one of Finland’s species of international responsibility. The birdlife included several pairs of wood sandpipers, greenshanks, common snipes, meadow pipits, and western yellow wagtails, as well as a whimbrel and a broad-billed sandpiper.
The restoration of the peatland area is estimated to significantly improve living conditions for both mire plant species and mire birds in the area. In addition, the restoration of the wooded narrow section between Pirttimaansuo and Sipojuntinsuo will reconnect the two peatland areas. This has great positive significance, particularly for mire butterfly species.
Restoration will begin weather permitting during the winter of 2025–2026 with tree removal. Ditches will be blocked during 2026, after which a private nature reserve will be established on the mire.
Ilvessuo: Puolanka, 14.8 ha
Ilvessuo is a 14.8-hectare, completely drained and originally sparsely wooded peatland area in Puolanka, at the headwaters of the Portinjoki river. With restoration, the area’s water economy will be returned as close as possible to its original state.
The slopes of Ilvessuo descend steeply towards Portinjoki, causing the drainage to load the river heavily. As a headwater of the Kiiminkijoki river, Portinjoki belongs to the valuable Kiiminkijoki Natura area, which will benefit significantly from the restoration. An original trout population lives in Portinjoki and will also benefit quickly from the restoration.
The nature of Ilvessuo consists of very diverse sections, such as lush purple moor-grass meadows, spring-fed brook-sides, cottongrass pine fens, barren tall dwarf shrub pine fens, thin-peated former rich pine fens (lettoräme), and peatland forests. On a small former rich pine fen section grows, among others, mezereon (Daphne mezereum), Scottish asphodel (Tofieldia pusilla), and tall cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium).
The area includes a shrub-covered former peat field and a flood meadow, which beavers flooded some years ago, killing all the trees in the area. Since then, the beaver dam has been dismantled and the beavers have disappeared from the area. Nowadays the meadow, which was once drained for a field or hay meadow, has turned into a fine flood meadow growing sedges and rushes.
In addition, Ilvessuo offers a refuge for endangered bird species. During the 2025 nesting season, species observed in the area included the reed bunting, green sandpiper, white wagtail, and the endangered willow tit. Locals also hope to see cloudberries (hilla) producing berries in the area again.
Mire restoration work will begin in the summer of 2026, after which a private nature reserve will be established in the area.
Koppelosuo and Pöytäkangas: Pudasjärvi, 39 ha
An area consisting of two sites located on the south and north sides of Lake Iinattijärvi. Coalition of organisations working on renewable energy provide funding for 34 hectares of the total area.
Koppelosuo, located on the north side, contains natural mire: sedge-dominated open fen, pine fen growing gnarled pines, spruce mire, and very little handled, mainly natural spruce-dominated forest. The gem of the site is a natural spring seeping to the surface in several places and a brook originating from it, which flows into Penikkaoja ditch. A trickle flows into Penikkaoja from the western edge of the mire, lined with brook-side spruce mire. Brook-side spruce mire is also found higher up along the spring brook. Signs of a bear visit have also been seen in the area.
The Pöytäkangas area, located on the south side and consisting of two adjacent properties, is mainly forest land. By combining the plots of two families, a beautiful rocky area with cliffs and the surrounding forests can be protected; the oldest forests are over 100 years old and the youngest are seedling stands of about 15–20 years. Pöytäkangas also has both thinned commercial forest and commercial forest approaching a natural state, barren heathland classified as critically endangered, peatland, brook-side forest, and rocky terrain with cliffs.
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