National park Nuuksio: wild nature close to Helsinki
June 2022
My favourite place to hike is Nuuksio National
Park, which is located just 30 km from Helsinki. It was established in 1994,
and the area is 56 km2. It's incredible that such pure and wild
nature lies only a short distance from the capital city. And it is so easy to
get there not only by car but also by bus. A great place to pick mushrooms and
berries, especially blueberries, lingonberries and cranberries.
In the coniferous forests, consisting mainly of
pine and spruce trees, are hiding numerous clear and shimmering lakes.
Shoreline of many of them partly consist of rock cliffs, offering the most
beautiful views. Some of the shores are very moist, made up of peat bog (Sphagnum
spp.). In these places it is ideal to look for carnivorous sundew plants (Drosera
spp.). Further away from the banks, in less wet part of the forest, the
herbaceous floor, apart from shrubs of the genus Vaccinium, is formed by
the Labrador tea (Ledum palustre). Not only its white blooms smell
delightful, but also the leaves have strong resinous forest scent when
crushed. Because of its smell it is a natural insect repellent. In the
lighter parts of the forest, especially on the topsoil of the rocks, there are
whitish-greenish carpets of lichens, where genus Cladonia and Cetraria
predominate. Cetraria islandica is often used in syrups and pastilles
for colds.
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| Peat bog shore |
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| Sundew |
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| Lichens (mainly genus Cladonia and Cetraria) |
There are walking routes around the lakes, and plenty
of suitable places to have a snack and enjoy the peace and the scenery. The
Finns have a special word for a trip to the nature, "retki", which
always has to include "eväät", meaning the snack you pack to take
with you. It was expertly explained to me by my boyfriend that the difference
between a picnic and retki is that for picnic the snack is in a basket, whereas
for retki eväät are in a backpack. A thermos of coffee, Karleon cakes
("Karjalanpiirakka" in Finnish- rye dough most often filled with creamy
rice or mashed potatoes) and oatmeal cookies are great for the occasion.
Considering waterbirds, it is important to
mention Red-throated Divers (Gavia stellata), which breed in good
numbers in Nuuksio. The pairs are monogamous, building the nest and caring for
the young together. The clutch consists of two eggs (exceptionally there may be
one or three). Food is mostly fish, but can also be supplemented by amphibians,
invertebrates and aquatic plants. Red-throated Divers prefer smaller lakes for
breeding, where there is most often only one pair. In the past, Red-throated
Divers have almost stopped nesting in Nuuksio due to the disturbance effect of
increased park visitation. People and dogs moving on the walking routes along
the lakeshores were disrupting the nest initiation and egg incubation phase.
Only one pair breed in the early 1990s. As part of conservation management to
provide nesting opportunities for Red-throated divers, artificial breeding
rafts simulating natural islands were placed on selected lakes. At first sight
they look like clumps of vegetation.
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| View on the artificial breeding raft and Read-throated diver nesting on the raft |
Red-throated Divers quickly started to nest on
them, and their breeding population has been gradually increasing. At present,
there are around 20 pairs. Since the limiting factor for breeding was
appropriately identified, which in this case was not lack of food but lack of
undisturbed nesting conditions, the applied measure worked perfectly.
I recommend visiting Nuuksio in all seasons
because each time it has a different atmosphere, colours and there is something
different to see and pick.
Article about artificial breeding rafts and the Red-throated Diver in Nuuksio:
Nummi, P., Väänänen, V. M., Pakarinen, R., &
Pienmunne, E. (2013): The Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) in
human-disturbed habitats-building up a local population with the aid of
artificial rafts. Ornis Fennica, 90: 16.
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