The aim of the project is to restore important coastal and archipelagic habitats, such as sun-lit environments, coastal meadows, herb-rich forests and wooded pastures. Restoration of these areas improves the living conditions of e.g. the Apollo butterfly and the hermit beetle. The area to be managed includes Finnish coastal nature from the Bothnian Bay to the Hanko Archipelago as well as the northern coast of Estonia in e.g. Tallinn and the Lahemaa National Park.

The implementation period of the project is 1 August 2018–31 March 2025.

A continuous network helps nature to survive

The CoastNetLIFE Project aims to improve the conservation status of Natura 2000 sites along the Baltic coastal zone of Finland and Estonia.

The aim is to create a functional network of coastal habitats. The main focus is on open and semi-open environments that are typical of the coastal area.

We restore environments that are now in poor condition and supplement the network with new areas.

Restoration increases the size and improves the quality of the habitats, also reducing the distance between them. For example, butterflies need a sufficient number of meadows in good condition and located within a radius of a few kilometres.

Improving the network is especially important now, when the impacts of climate change are becoming visible. The network of nature conservation areas on the western coast, reaching form southwest up to north, is the core area of Finnish meadows. The aim is to establish a vertical network of habitats in good condition and help species to spread to new living areas when the southernmost habitats become too hot or dry.

The networks of managed habitats overlap to some extent, and the species may need different kinds of habitats during their lifespan. Species that require this kind of habitat mosaics include, e.g. two Apollo butterfly species, which are helped by the project.

All habitats do not require management, and 70–80% of the nature conservation areas will be completely excluded from the management programme. One of the first measures to be taken is preparing a general nature management plan that describes the management network and the mires and forests that will be excluded from it.

The management plan is the first step towards creating a cost-efficient management system.

The plan designs management on two spatial scales and on temporal scale. It identifies six special nature management areas, or prioritized managed habitat networks, in the nature conservation areas of the Archipelago Sea. These nature management areas are functional entities in which a large proportion of the endangered species of the Archipelago Sea can be preserved by diversifying and increasing nature management area.

The Nature Management Plan for the Conservation Sites of the Archipelago Sea has been published in Finnish, documentation page in English:

• Luonnonhoidon kokonaissuunnitelma Saaristomeren luonnonsuojelualueille (julkaisut.metsa.fi)

Funding and partners

The budget of the project is EUR 8.7 million, of which the European Commission’s funding covers 60%, i.e. EUR 5.2 million.

The project is administered by Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland.

The partners include

• Keskkonnaamet (Estonian Environmental Board)
• Town of Raahe
• Town of Rauma
• City of Tallinn
• City of Turku
• University of Turku
• Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Southwest Finland
• WWF Finland

A seminar on nature management at the archiplago environments was held in 2022:

Seminar 8.6.2022 Nature management at the archipelago environments – program (pdf, 220 kb)

Contact details

Project Manager Kimmo Kurkko
Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland
tel. +358401628245
kimmo.kurkko@metsa.fi

The project has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union. The material reflects the views by the authors, and the European Commission or the CINEA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.