4.10.2023

Kimitoön has gained another nature conservation area, the so-called Purunpää Norra. On the initiative of Föreningen Konstsamfundet, the nature conservation area on the association’s land near Söderlångvik Manor has been expanded by another area totalling 88 hectares, in line with the plans already presented. At the same time, the conservation regulations in the now protected area have been changed.

This decision is the official confirmation by the ELY Centre of the plans for the Ölmos-Purunpää conservation area north of Hammarsboda swamp. It is now labelled “strictly protected”. In total, about 400 hectares of Konstsamfundet’s land is now strictly protected; the forest areas in Purunpää and on Bergö already have the same protection designation.
In addition to the strictly protected forests, Konstsamfundet has about 330 hectares of coastal forests that are protected from construction.
The protected areas are one of several measures in the forest strategy approved by Konstsamfundet at the beginning of 2023.

“Our goal with this rather ambitious strategy is to adapt our forest management to the new challenges posed by climate change and the threat to biodiversity,” says Stefan Björkman, CEO of Föreningen Konstsamfundet.
Other measures in the plan include continuity forestry, FSC forest certification, the size and shape of final felling areas, the restoration of drained peatlands, increasing the proportion of mixed forests, the planting of deciduous trees and flowering trees, the preservation of so-called evergreens and solitary trees and the creation of new wetlands. The plan is drawn up for the next 20 years. According to the strategy plan, an additional 100 hectares of forest will be protected over the next 10 years.