Background Boreal natural forests, esker forests and bog woodlands are considered priority habitats under the Habitats Directive due to their scarcity in the EU. Southern and western Finland in particular has few such forest ecosystems remaining, as most have been substantially modified or replaced by commercial forest operations. Yet even so, their conservation value remains high and extends beyond the habitat itself, since they are also important refuges for a wide range of species. No less than one third of the bird species found in Finland listed in Annex 1 of the Birds Directive use these forests for breeding or during migration. Species such as the highly endangered whitebacked woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) are still clinging on here, even though numbers are now reduced to a mere 40 pairs in the whole of Finland. It is estimated that there are around 225 000 ha of boreal forests, mires and esker forests remaining in southern and western Finland but little of this is in truly ’natural’ or favourable condition. This is because over time the forests have succumbed to a range of pressures from commercial forestry. As a result, they have not only shrunk in terms of their surface area but their structure and function has also been dramatically altered. A natural forest will have trees of different ages, a lot of decaying wood on the ground, and occasional openings in the forest canopy as a result of storms etc. This creates ideal micro habitats for a wide number of species. Commercially used forests on the other hand are uniform, have very little dead wood or forest clearings and are consequently relatively uninhabitable for most species. Objectives When this LIFE-Nature project began in 2003, it was the largest forest restoration project in Finland. It is working on 33 sites in southern and western Finland to improve the conservation status of these Natura 2000 areas. In doing so, the project aims not only to introduce changes to the forests that will allow them to become more natural in due course, but also to reduce the degree of fragmentation between them. This in turn should provide the multitude of species that depend on the forests with a more coherent network of safe refuges and so encourage greater exchange between them. The project intends to draw up comprehensive restoration plans for all 33 sites. These should then begin to be implemented during the project. Restoration work foreseen includes burning circa 5 000 ha of boreal forests, increasing decayed wood and creating small openings. Some 350 ha of bog woodlands and 300 ha of eskers are also be restored, through methods such as the blocking of drainage ditches and the removal of forest roads. Applying forest restoration techniques on this scale is still uncommon, so the project should therefore provide invaluable best practice experience in ‘renaturalising’ forests (including information on costs), potentially useful for other site managers across the boreal region. Concerted efforts will also be made to raise the profile of forest restoration activities through the project. For instance, a “restoration trail” is to be built in Savonlinna – not only will this be useful for restoration training, but it will also be able to show journalists and visitors of the Savonlinna Opera Festivals what forest and bog woodland restoration is all about. Results This LIFE Nature project was successfully completed in line with objectives. A total of 290 ha of the central parts of the Kolovesi-Vaaluvirta-Pyttyselkä Natura 2000 site were purchased by the state to be designated as a statutory conservation area in order to improve the ecological integrity of the Natura 2000 site. Besides natural boreal forests and forest-covered mires, the purchased area also had forests where a sustainable supply of decaying wood needed to be initiated by restoration. Large-scale ecological restoration of forests and mires was a relatively new method of conserving biodiversity at the time the LIFE forest project was launched, although such methods had been introduced through various small-scale restoration experiments since the late 1980s. In 2003 and 2004, more than 300 forest workers and a number of other forestry employees as well as supervisors of natural heritage services were trained for practical restoration work. The training, largely carried out as field training, focused on the objectives of restoration and on how these objectives are achieved. Forest workers have actively participated in the development of restoration methods. The restoration work was preceded by making inventories of the structure of the tree stock in each area and by assessing the need for restoration measures in forests and mires. Based on the field visits, restoration plans were drawn up for 30 Natura 2000 sites to form the basis for the practical work. In mature forests, a sustainable supply of decaying wood was initiated by felling, girdling and blowing up trees on 2 700 ha. A total of 350 ha of forests were treated with controlled burning. Through the increase of decaying wood and the controlled burns, small gaps in the forest canopy were also created, which will encourage a more varied age structure of the tree stock as new seedlings gradually appear in clearings. In young forests, large clumps of trees were felled or girdled around deciduous trees, so that the growth of deciduous trees would be speeded up through increased light. Small clearings using this method were created on 2 800 hectares in order to promote the structural diversity of the forests. Dendrocopos leucotos breeds and feeds in lush, well-lit deciduous forests. Decaying wood is an essential element of these forests because that is where insect larvae, which woodpeckers feed on, live. 200 ha of white-backed woodpecker forests on the Natura 2000 sites of Linnansaari, Puulavesi and Kuijärvi-Sonnanen were managed by removing spruce trees and small rowans from deciduous forests in order to increase the amount of light in them. Decaying wood was increased by both girdling and felling birches. The esker forests on the Maakylä-Räyskälä Natura 2000 site were becoming over¬grown. Therefore hundreds of hectares of sunny habitats were recovered by small-scale controlled burning, by making small clearings and by increasing decaying wood. Drainage ditches of forest-covered mires on an area totalling around 400 ha on 10 Natura 2000 sites were dammed and filled. Thus water will return to its natural course and the drained area will become a mire again. On the Maakylä-Räyskälä Natura 2000 site, 1 km of unused logging roads were removed, and on the Rokua Natura 2000 site, 2 km of such roads were removed. Photo monitoring of the restored forests and mires will over the years reveal the effects of the restoration. The restored areas were photographed before the res¬toration and photo monitoring has been continued post-restoration. Redirecting the water flow in mires to be restored by filling and damming drainage ditches is often very challenging. Aftercare monitoring shows that the recovery process has been successfully initiated. To promote the LIFE project, web pages, brochures and a DVD (‘Back to Nature’) were produced and a restoration-themed nature trail was built on the Hevonniemi Natura 2000 site. The project was featured by various media on more than 150 occasions. While forest burning appeared to be of prime interest to the media, other restoration methods also attracted plenty of coverage. Restoration is thus also be¬coming better known to the general public. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section). This project has been awarded the title of "Best of the Best" from a shortlist of 26 "Best" LIFE Nature projects in 2007-2008.