Recently, the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation managed to acquire an 80-hectare forest area in Lapland, including hundreds of metres of the Ivalo River bank. The deal was made possible by a private benefactor who loves what nature has to offer in Lapland.
Pyrynmaa is located in Inari, southwest of the populated area of Ivalo.
The Pyrynmaa area is almost totally about woodland. There are primeval pine trees and dead trees standing on top of the ridges. In the northern part of the area, one can see that there were cuttings conducted there in the 1960s. There are still old trees remaining all over the area, so the forest provides a valuable environment for birds living in old forests. More than one third of the area is considered exceptionally valuable by Finnish Law.
The biodiversity of the area is increased by the river bank as well as the pond and the meadows of globeflowers appearing there. The exuberant bank of the Ivalo River provides a home for species that are rare elsewhere in the Inari region. These species include the tall Jacob’s-ladder, the frost meadow rue, and the Baltic holy grass as well as the Nordic subspecies of the stinging nettle, all of them being species of international interest, falling under the responsibility of Finland.
The new conservation area will be called Pyrynmaa. It will be the 32nd conservation area, one of the two established in Lapland by the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation. With the new area included, the total area placed under conservation by now is over 600 hectares.
Photo: Anneli Jussila.
