Background The boreal old-growth forests of northern Karelia have a particularly important role to play in the survival of many forest species across the EU. This is because they are located in the border region with Russia, and as such act as ’stepping stones’ for species between Russian forests and other forests within Finland. The mires are equally important since they make up the transition zone between aapa mires and active raised bogs. For the forests to fully realise this potential however, they have to be brought back up to a favourable state of conservation. Like so many other boreal forests in this region, they have suffered from a range of commercial forest activities which altered their structures and ecological functions. Northern Karelia is also of increasing interest for tourism. This may create much needed new employment opportunities for forest workers. This also creates an opportunity to raise the profile of these habitats, while channelling visitor pressure away from the most sensitive areas. Objectives The main objectives were the protection of boreal forests and their species, the production of information material on the EU’s easternmost Natura 2000 sites, the planning of the management and utilisation of these sites, as well as the restoration of habitats to their natural state. The project aimed to complement the work of an earlier (2001-05) LIFE Nature project (LIFE00 NAT/FIN/007062), located in the same region, by working on a further nine Natura 2000 sites, which cover a total of around 13 000 ha. The project would begin by drawing up management plans for all the project sites, using a ‘participatory planning approach’ so that local community interests could be taken fully into account. Through participatory planning, local communities would be encouraged to develop small-scale tourism initiatives around these forests and mires, which in turn would help to diversify the local economy. The project would then begin to implement the plans. Some 300 ha of boreal old-growth forest would be restored, improving their structure through increasing the amount of decaying wood and/or burning small areas in order to reproduce the effects of lightning and storms. A further 300 ha of mires would also be restored, through ditch blocking. Some 50 ha of privately-owned old forests would also be acquired, in order to restore former commercial forest. Public awareness of Natura 2000 areas and natural habitats would be promoted, as well as of the natural processes underlying the development of the unique eskers, gorges, mires and forests of the EU’s easternmost point. One of the objectives of the information material would be the promotion of sustainable nature tourism through for example, site brochures, nature trails and information panels and signposts. Results The project met all its objectives. Indeed, some targets were surpassed for several actions. Habitat and species inventories The project carried out habitat and species inventories covering approximately 13 000 ha (e.g. for birds, mire and esker butterflies and beetles). The data was used to compile the management and restoration plans for all nine project areas areas and six mire/forest restoration plans. As foreseen, a ‘participatory approach’ was adopted and local people were actively involved in the planning process - participating in the planning group, public meetings and in media work. Although time consuming, this approach helped to ensure common agreement on the future management of the area. This was important, as especially at the start of the project, the overall perception of Natura 2000 in north Karelia, was not particularly positive. By ensuring the local community was involved in the management planning, the project was able to improve attitudes towards N2000 and to nature conservation in general. Three of the nine management plans are not yet approved, but their approval process is on-going. Land acquisition The land acquisition target of the project was already reached in the early stages of the project: 76 hectares in Paiholan metsä were protected (with project funding), 105 ha of land were acquired for the state for conservation purposes and 65 ha of Natura 2000 sites were protected (with other funding). Mires and forest restoration The restoration of mires and forests within the project sites was carried out according to the plans drawn up by the project: 373.5 ha of forests were restored by controlled burning, increasing decaying wood, increasing the variability of the forests by creating small openings to facilitate the development into mixed forests, and also reproducing storm effects. The restored forests will develop into valuable boreal forests within few decades. Several threatened and rare species were found in the controlled burning areas such as the beetle species Aradus montandoni, which was found the first time in Finland 479.1 ha of mires were restored by blocking and filling approximately 125 km of ditches. As a result of these actions the water level in the restored mires has increased facilitating the recovery of mire vegetation and species such as mire butterflies and birds. Nature tourism Five nature trails were constructed in Savijärvi, Petkeljärvi-Putjelanharju, Kolvananuuro, Pitkävaara and Koitajoki). Permanent information boards were also placed in other project areas. Monitoring Monitoring of the restoration results (for mire vegetation and butterflies, birds, beetles, forest regeneration and restoration success) was published for the Koitajoki, Viklinrimpi and Petkeljärvi-Putkelanharju sites. Due to the relatively short monitoring period and short period since the restoration actions were carried out. It is too early yet to assess the implications for species. However, the increased water level of the restored mires showed indicative increase in mire vegetation and butterflies. Also their importance for migrating birds in spring and autumn was increased. The most promising results were yielded from the beetle inventories. Dissemination The project promoted the project area, LIFE and nature conservation in general by carrying out a wide range of dissemination actions. For example, 16 public events and 17 expert events were organised. Site brochures were also produced for three areas (Koitajoki, Kolvananuuro, Petkeljärvi-Putkelanharju). Thematic web pages were also produced for ravines and geomorphology, mires, boreal forests and eskers. Media work included the production of16 press releases, which resulted in 45 press articles about the project. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section) This project has been selected as one of the 26 "Best" LIFE Nature projects in 2007-2008.