The Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation made a deal about a forest piece of more than 19 hectares at the end of May in the Kylmäkoski village in Juuka, North Karelia. The forest, which is located at a distance of a few ten kilometres west-northwest of the Koli hill, will be called Havukkakorpi (‘Hawk’s Wilderness’).

The former part of the name is about the large predatory bird nesting in the heart of the forest with the latter part referring to the untouched nature of the place. The new conservation area is a beautiful, old, and intact forest with a dense and abundant tree stand of spruces old enough to serve as timber logs along with some shield-barked pines growing among them. The place has an extraordinary amount of decayed wood important to the biodiversity. There have been a lot of droppings of the Siberian flying squirrel found in many places, which is no wonder: there are large aspens growing here and there in this area, which also conceals a former forest meadow now covered by deciduous trees. It would only take a minor effort to block the few shallow ditches in this area and restore the natural waterways.

The shape of the terrain varies in Havukkakorpi with the ground descending towards the meandering Räksiinpuro brook, which follows the southern edge. The charming little stream adds to the conservational value of the area.

Havukkakorpi is the foundation’s 54th conservation area, the third one in the North Karelian region.