The seven-hectare Keijunsuo Forest in the village of Vehmainen in Renko, has become our foundation’s latest conservation area. It is the first area we have acquired in the town of Hämeenlinna. As a result, we have now thirty conservation areas in our possession.
Keijunsuo, also called Keljunsuo, is located south of the Haltianlahti Bay of Lake Paloniitunjärvi and bounded by the 90-hectare conservation area set up to protect the lake. It is a nationally important lake for birds providing a home also for the Yellow-Spotted Whiteface, a dragonfly species protected by the European Union.
Keijunsuo is an old forest growing on a swampy heath with wood appearing in layers and some decaying wood being visible as well. The oldest trees are shield-barked pines, but there are also some deciduous trees of different ages appearing in the forest. Owned by the state, the forest may have remained intact without care for decades and without any trees being cut down – there are practically no tree stumps in the forest. Many of the ditches have become shallow with the deeper ones being easy to block up by voluntary work. Keijunsuo is an interesting object to restore as the area has gradually returned to its natural state on its own. The value of the forest is increased by its location close to a conservation area in a peaceful forest environment far away from any large roads.
Photo: Anneli Jussila.
