The Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation acquired in January 2016 the Rouvala farm of 16 hectares in the Nyystölä village in Padasjoki, over 10 hectares of the area being covered by woodland. The majority of the deal was financed by a private donor, who decided to remain anonymous.

The forest is located in the vicinity of the Päijänne National Park, southwest of the far end section of the Nyystölänlahti bay. The appearance of the common hepatica and the spring vetchling tells about the exuberance of the soil. The number of trees is, in fact, extraordinarily large in this forest, which grows on a grove-like heath.

This mighty forest of conifers and other trees has a variety of structures, and its trees are mainly 70–90 years old, the oldest ones having already passed the milestone of a hundred years, however. There are deciduous trees growing among the pines and the spruces, but only in small numbers. In the largest unbroken section of the forest, there are also a few saggy swamps and seasonal wetlands lying in their natural state.

There is plenty of decayed wood appearing in the forest, dozens of cubic metres per hectare at its best. The decayed wood appears in many forms, ranging from fallen trees covered by moss to fresh windfalls.

The area includes a former forest pasture of 1,5 hectares, located on a hill labelled by loose boulders as well as small rocks and cliffs, rising between two meadows. The forest growing on this hill, which is called Ilvesmäki, varies from a mixed forest with a lot of light to a dense spruce forest with a lot of aspens. The juniper shrubs that appear in the bush layer remind us of the former pasture.

Rouvala is the 51st conservation area of the foundation and already the 11th in the Häme region.