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Kurjenrahka National Park 
Kasnäs t. +358 205 4620 sinisimpukka@metsa.fi Nature/Wilderness / Hiking and backpacking Kurjenrahka National Park is the largest and most varied protected peatland complex in Southwest Finland. The park's total area of 2,540 consists of about 1,980 hectares of peatlands, 500 hectares of forest, and about 60 hectares of open water. Several well-preserved 'hummock and hollow' raised bogs in the park are highly characteristic of the region's peatland habitats, and thus provide good opportunities for conservation and research. The park consists of three separate areas: Kurjenrahka-Lammenrahka, Vajosuo, and Laidassuo-Pukkipalo. Kurjenrahka is an extensive hummock and hollow raised bog broken in places by isolated copses, with marshier ground in the north and west of the bog. Lammenrahka, is typical of the hummock and hollow raised bogs of Southwest Finland, featuring parallel ring-like ridges and hollows running around the centre of the bog, and many pools of clear water. Vajosuo, further south, is another hummock and hollow raised bog, with peripheral pine mires around a sparsely wooded central plateau. The western section of the park, Laidassuo-Pukkipalo, is very different in nature from the wide open mires elsewhere at Kurjenrahka. At Laidassuo elongated mires have formed between areas of rocky forest. The landscape features an intricate patchwork of natural habitats with many kinds of small raised bogs interspersed with isolated woodland and peripheral spruce mires. Different types of mature natural forest with bilberry or lingonberry type undergrowth are preserved in their natural state at Pukkipalo, but most of the rest of the area's forests have at some time been exploited commercially before the national park was designated. Kurjenrahka National Park's most important water feature is Savojärvi, a lake bordered around its northern shores by peatlands. The park's wildlife is typical of peatland habitats. Nesting bird species include many birds that are rare or threatened in Southwest Finland, such as the crane (Grus grus), willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus), hobby (Falco subbuteo), kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus), woodlark (Lullula arborea), and red-breasted flycatcher (Ficedula parva). Migrating cranes and bean geese (Anser fabalis) also regularly rest in the park. Pukkipalo has a highly representative range of beetles, including threatened species like the barkbugs Aradus pictus and A. Betulinus, and the beetle Calitys scabra. Many regionally rare or threatened peatland butterflies and moths, such as the straw belle (Aspitates gilvaria) and Freya's fritillary (Clossiana freija), also live in the area. Pukkipalo has the most representative range of saprophytic fungi in the province, including species such as Fomitopsis rosea and Amylocystis lapponica which indicate an extremely long continuity in the presence of decaying wood, by regional standards. |
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