Seitseminen Completes 30-Year Bog Restoration, 1,300 Hectares Restored

A more than 30-year peatland restoration project in Seitseminen National Park finished this autumn, restoring roughly 1,300 hectares of mire, about half the national park. The Venesjärvi bog was the final worksite, YLE reported.

Pekka Vesterinen, a Metsähallitus nature conservation specialist who oversaw the programme, says the work began as an experiment in the 1990s and unfolded in phases as funding and weather allowed. Teams remove trees and block drainage ditches to raise water levels. Vesterinen expects first visible recovery within about five years, and clearer results in ten to fifteen years.

Lessons from Seitseminen have guided restoration in Estonia, Latvia and Sweden and produced decades of monitoring data. A video released with the announcement features Environment and Climate Minister Sari Multala discussing incentives for private landowners. Metsähallitus says restored bogs improve water quality and eventually bring back specialist plants and birdlife.

For casual visitors, Tiina Hakkarainen says restored mires offer berry picking and striking photo opportunities.

The Seitseminen work follows other regional restoration efforts, such as the Nuorajärvi project in Teisko which began earlier this year.