Give back to Nature in Salla
Protect local nature

Give back to Nature in Salla

Compensate some of the impact of your trip to or business in Salla. Give back to the nature of Salla and the Earth’s climate.

By supporting the campaign, you will:

take part in the active nature conservation
support the restoration of the habitats the Siberian jay, capercaillie, and other iconic northern species
ensure the increase of the carbon stored in forest biota and peatlands

The Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation and Visit Salla are offering tourists and businesses a novel way of making up for the footprint of travelling by taking part in the acquisition of a nature conservation area. The conservation area will keep a part of nature untouched as a treasure trove for future generations.

Travellers in Finland can enjoy the beauty and quiet of original and diverse nature and the unique experience of changing seasons. People come to Finland looking for peace, clean nature, and a break from everyday worries. Despite all the good intentions, tourism has many kinds of environmental impacts. Travelling generates carbon dioxide emissions and wears down the local nature. Contemporary travellers are however increasingly more responsible and aware of their footprint.

We will join up to acquire a diverse forest to protect, one which the owners have spared from clear cutting and where the animals have been protected against hunting. The forest growing in Salla by the Oulankajoki river includes coniferous woods over 160 years of age, growing mixed woods, and flooded forest by the riverbank. There are different types of peatlands by the edges and centre of the forest: flooded forests, pine mires, and an open fen. The forest includes many kinds of threatened nature types inhabited by various threatened forest and mire types. Some parts of the area will require restoration efforts, for example, the blocking of drainage ditches of pine mires in order to restore the water balance of the peatland.

Oulankajoki. Kuva: Petri Haapala

You can get involved in the acquisition of the nature protection area and choose a nature type of your liking at our Salla destination to which your donation should be allocated. By allocating your donation to one of the seven nature types in the forest area to be acquired, you can help with the conservation efforts of the signature species of that area.

Make up for the footprint of your travels, whether in Salla or elsewhere, and join us in protecting Finnish nature!

The prices of habitats per square metre have been calculated weighting 70% on roundwood and 30% on peat volume. If applicable, costs of restoration and nature management have been added on top of these.

Due to this calculus the habitats with the highest per square metre prizes are, perhaps surprisingly, old peat meadow and pine mire to be restored. Although these contain either very little or a relatively small volume of roundwood, the habitats contain a lot of peat and therefore carbon. Both habitats are also in need of restoration and management.

As a donator you can choose whether if you want to give your money, for example, to the old-growth forest already rich in biodiversity or opt to support a habitat which biodiversity will increase quite rapidly as a result of restoration and management.

Get to know the destination and donate to conservation

Kalliosaari Kitkajoki
Location on the map >>
90-year-old coniferous forest
Protected
65%
The coniferous forest would be old enough for timber harvesting, and yet it is still young for a natural forest. As the previously thinned forest can go untouched from now on, it will return to its natural state rapidly. More lichen, such as horsehair lichens, will start growing on the trees, and the mammal and bird community will become more diverse.90-year-old coniferous forest

Price: 0,24 €/m2 | 60 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 10,4 hectares
Trees: 1 570 cubic metres, including 314 tonnes of carbon
Peat: 2 400 cubic metres, including 96 tonnes of carbon
Tree growth rate per year: 45 cubic metres (9 tonnes of carbon)
Peat increase per year: 8 cubic metres(0,3 tonnes of carbon)
Signature species: Siberian jay

Siberian jay

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From: 20,00 

Pine mire to be restored
Protected
5%
A pine mire is a type of wet peatland covered by short growing by pine trees. Such peatlands used to be drained with drainage ditches to speed up the growth of trees. Draining would, however, often not result in the desired outcome as pines did not grow that well and the mire turned into a source of carbon emissions and nutrient discharges. The water balance of the pine mire will be restored by filling up the drainage ditches. This will help with diversifying nature and revert the mire back into a carbon sink.Pine mire to be restored

Price: 0,32 €/m2 | 6 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 8,0 hectares
Trees: 619 cubic metres, including 124 tonnes of carbon
Peat: 99 500 cubic metres, including 3 980 tonnes of carbon
Tree growth rate per year: 38 cubic metres (7,6 tonnes of carbon), growth will slow down after restoration
Peat increase per year: cubic metres after restoration (3,2 tonnes of carbon)
Signature species: Willow grouse

Riekko

Willow grouse

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From: 20,00 

Open fen
Protected
59%
The open fen in its natural state is an important carbon sink due to its thick layer of peat. The fen additionally cleans water, and the water reservoir it contains evens out the flow rates of the river. Only approximately one third of the original fen area in Finland has remained in its natural state and their value in maintaining a diverse mire ecosystem is high.Open fen

Price: 0,20 €/m2| 3 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 3,1 hectares
Trees: 4 cubic metres, including 0,8 tonnes of carbon
Peat: 46 500 cubic metres, including 1 860 tonnes of carbon
Tree growth rate per year:
Peat increase per year: 31 cubic metres (1,2 tonnes of carbon)
Signature species: Western yellow wagtail

Keltaväräräkki

Western yellow wagtail

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From: 20,00 

Peatland meadow
Protected
9%
The peatland meadow was cleared by hand on flooded forest land some 70 years ago. After the small farm nearby was closed, it was left to grow on its own, but the drainage ditches are still introducing nutrients into the river. The plan is to fill up the ditches and manage the field by mowing. A wealth of plant and insect species live in the meadow.Peatland meadow

Price: 0,32 €/m2 | 7 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 1,2 hectares
Trees:
Peat: 15 600 cubic metres, including 624 tonnes of carbon
Tree growth rate per year:
Peat increase per year: data uncertain
Signature species: Common snipe

Taivaanvuohi

Common snipe

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From: 20,00 

Old-growth forest
Protected
43%
The old-growth forest includes all kinds of trees at various stages of life. Old trees fall and decompose, and small organisms and fungi break down their nutrients for use by other plants and new tree saplings. The carbon sink in the trees and soil of the old forest is large and will keep growing slowly for hundreds of years.Old-growth forest

Price: 0,20 €/m2 | 76 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 4,0 hectares
Trees: 527 cubic metres, including 105 tonnes of carbon
Peat:
Tree growth rate per year: 12 cubic metres (2,4 tonnes of carbon)
Peat increase per year:
Signature species: Capercaillie

Capercaillie

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From: 20,00 

90-year-old mixed forest
Protected
8%
The dominant tree species in the mixed forest are pine, spruce, and birch. There are shrubs such as blueberries growing on the forest floor. The mixed forest is home to various common species, and it is full of birdsong when summer begins. When growing without human disturbance, such a forest absorbs plenty of carbon.90-year-old mixed forest

Price: 0,20 €/m2 | 80 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 4,5 hectares
Trees: 580 cubic metres, including 116 tonnes of carbon
Peat:
Tree growth rate per year: 18 cubic metres (3,7 tonnes of carbon)
Peat increase per year:
Signature species: Brambling

Brambling

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From: 20,00 

Flooded forest and spruce mire
Protected
7%
Flooded forest and spruce mire are wet habitat types that provide homes for species of high conservation interest. Flooded forest is a lush riverbank forest dominated by birch and is submerged during flood season in spring. The closely related spruce mire is a nutrient-rich natural peatland type that grow relatively large trees. Both habitat types are threatened, which makes protecting them especially important.Flooded forest and spruce mire

Price: 0,28 €/m2 | 10 €/tonne of carbon
Surface area: 2,1 hectares
Trees: 279 cubic metres, including 75 tonnes of carbon
Peat: 12 800 cubic metres, including 512 tonnes of carbon
Tree growth rate per year: 9,4 cubic metres (1,9 tonnes of carbon)
Peat increase per year: 21 cubic metres (0,8 tonnes of carbon)
Signature species: Rustic bunting

Rustic bunting

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From: 20,00 

Campaign progress

The campaign started on 21 February 2023 and aims to raise funds for the acquisition of a protected area in Salla.

Reached31%