During this school year our students have written essays and made presentations to be held here at school and to be sent to our partner school in Tanzania. The topics have varied from Finnish nature and seasons, our UNESCO World Heritage Sites to the ecological problems we are facing at the moment. We believe the students widened their understanding of our biodiversity and are thus able to give our friends in Tanzania a glimpse of Finland.
-by Anja Moilanen
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The climate of Finland
When you think Finnish weather, you probably think it is snowing all the time. That’s not correct, because Finland belongs to a subarctic climate, so it has four different seasons.
Summers can be quite warm and sunny, but sometimes it’s really cold and rainy. The climate in Finland can change a lot. Some days it’s very sunny, but it can quickly change into a shower of hail and thunderstorm.
After the short summer climate gets colder and autumn begins. Then air gets colder and colder and it rains almost every day. At night it could be really cold and in the morning there is ground frost. That means that winter is really close. The snowing usually starts in November or December and continues to April. The temperature is also really freezing.
When the long and painful winter is over, the spring starts. In the spring the climate gets warmer and the snow starts melting. The days are also getting longer and the sun starts shining. The summer has come again.
Farming in Finland
The first farmers came to Finland about 4000 years ago. At that time farming wasn´t that significant, because hunting and fishing were the main trades. In the Middle Ages it was a very important livelihood. Different parts of Finland were specialized in different styles and species to farm. Tools were very basic and people did all the work with the help of animals.
Until 1900 farming was the most important livelihood. After that industry became more common. Nowadays there are less and less farmers in Finland. They have tried to make farming more popular with the help of TV-shows. There is, among other things, one show where farmers try to find partners for themselves.
Today it is rare to see people working in a farm without some kind of engine. Almost every part of farming needs machines. The most ordinary corns are barley, oat, wheat and rye.
Source: www.wikipedia.com
Finland’s Fauna
The fauna here in Finland is completely different from yours in Tanzania. We have a lot of forests, and the animals living here must cope with pretty cold winters, short but warm summers and very changing weather. It can be sunny and clear one day and stormy the other.
The most common species here are, I guess, squirrel, rabbit, elk, hedgehog, birds like great tit and crow and many different mice. There are also reptiles like snakes, and common lizards. Snakes are not usually dangerous. We also have a few predators, like bear, wolf, fox and owl. They are not often seen. There are some endangered species, too, for example lynx, flying squirrel, woodpecker, white-tailed eagle, saimaa ringed seal and some insects.
In Finland animal conservation is advanced. Animals are taken care of and considered when doing big changes in the forests and nature. There are also many groups dedicated to animal conservation and their efforts to protect nature are often succesful.
Finland’s fauna is common in the north and even arctic areas. Animals have to be able to find their food in the forests. Berries, insects, other animals, seeds, grass, cortex from the trees and roots are the primary nourishment found in Finland’s forests.
Animals attacking humans is very rare. Sometimes a wolf or two, a bear or other big predator wanders to areas where humans live but accidents are usually avoided. Birds and squirrels are common animals around inhabited places. And sometimes they become tame due to humans feeding them regularly.
Finnish forestry
Finland has one of the biggest forest areas in the world; forests cover over 70% of the area. Only about 5% has succeeded to avoid fellings. However, one of the most common landscapes are different types of forests.
Most of the primeval forests are located in northern and eastern parts of Finland. These primeval forests are under heavy forestry, because there are some original types of trees. Some of these types are so rare that they cannot be found anywhere else. In southern Finland there are less primeval forests, different kind of species are suffering because of that. This makes forestry even more important. The whole of Scandinavia has participated in this forestry program.
Finland has two different ways to protect forests. Country has bought some areas and established game reserves. Establishing game reserves is quite expensive, but it has brought in good results. Some of the most endangered species have survived because of this kind of protection.
The other way of protecting forests is a bit cheaper. In these areas forest is chopped down, but lumberjacks leave some trees alive and in long term those trees will grow and the whole forest will grow.
Although people are destroying a lot of forests here in Finland, the situation is good if we compare Finland’s forests to some rainforests. In rainforests timber is aboriginal and there are thousands of species which will die and have died in extinction.
Source: www.wwf.fi
Natural resources
In Finland, we have a lot of natural resources. These resources can be divided into two categories; renewable- and non-renewable resources.
The most important resources are, for example, forest and water supply. Forest belong to renewable resources, so there is also enough of that to future generations, but anyway, we can’t use it heedlessly.
There is very big area of forest in Finland. The biggest part of forest consists of conifereous woods and a bit smaller area consisting of deciduous forest.
Around the world, Finland is famous for its thousands of lakes. There are very accurate rules for the use of our water supply. Most Finns agree with these rules because they respect and take pride in this resource.
We have less non-renewable recources than renewable. Ore is one of these. But we Finns aren’t so proud of that than of woods, rivers and lakes!
Nature Conservation in Finland
Nature conservation has long history in Finland. First animal species were protected in 1923, and the first preservation areas were founded in the 1920’s. We have many preservation areas in here, for example protection areas for swamps, fisheries, wildlife management, soil, and old forests.
Forests have traditionally been protected by designating nature reserves. Finnish forests have been protected with the aid of national parks and strict nature reserves programme. About nine per cent of our forests are protected. Many water areas are also protected, especially the Baltic Sea. By founding preservation areas we want to ensure nature’s diversity, protect endangered species and offer people possibility to travel in nature. The biggest preservation area in Finland is Urho Kekkonen’s national area. Nature conservation is widely supported by Finns.
sources:
www.wikipedia.fi
www.ymparisto.fi
Nature in Finland is many-sided. You could say that in Finland we have four different kinds of nature because of the four seasons we have during the year. The seasons are autumn, winter, spring and summer. Autumn comes after the warm summer and all the autumn colors come alive as all leaves of trees and bushes turn yellow, orange and brown. After the beautifully colored leaves have fallen onto ground, the weather starts to get colder and the winter comes.
During the winter the earth is covered with snow which is white and freezing. After the cold and colourless winter, the amount of light starts to increase and the weather gets warmer. The spring has now come, the snow melts and little by little all parts of nature start to come alive again. For example, bears wake up from their winter sleep and migratory birds come back from their journeys and, of course, all the beautiful flowers and plants start to blossom. After the spring it is time for the summer again and nature is in its splendor and all the massive and wondorous coniferous forests are full of life.
The climate in Finland
Life in Finland is quite nice because of the weather. In recent years the summer has changed a lot. It was almost always sunny and warm during the summer but nowadays majority of summer days are rainy and chilly.
Autumn is colourful and it’s really rainy. The colour of leaves changes in trees into many different hues. The season is cold, windy and maybe even depressing, but the multiple colours of nature might cheer you up!
In the winter there are really cold moments, it might get even to -30 degrees cold. Nevertheless, thrre are also really mild temperatures like zero to minus 15 degrees. Some years there is a lot of snow and sometimes it might feel that we don’t even get any.
Spring is one of the four seasons in Finland, and nature is starting to wake up from cold winter. Animals and plants are coming back to life.
Water
Finland is called ”the land of thousands of lakes” ; we have about 190 000 of them. The biggest lake in Finland is Saimaa. The whole lake area is 4 400 km2. 9.4% of Finland’s area is covered with lakes. All the lakes in Finland are about 7m deep, but we also have lakes that are over 90m deep, for example Lake Päijänne (95,3m) and Lake Inari (91,8m).
Most of the lakes are in the middle of Finland but we also have a great number of lakes in the North Finland. “The highest” lake we have here in Finland is nameless and it is 1130m above sea level. Water in our lakes is bright and clean but if we get very warm summer there might be a little blue-green algae in some of the lakes. Then it is forbidden to swim in those lakes or you might get sick because of the algae.
There are also many rivers in Finland. The longest river is Kemijoki and it is in Northern Finland. We have our own river here in Haukipudas too. That river is called Kiiminkijoki. It floats freely to Bothnian Bay and it is part of Protect Aqua- and Natura 2000- protection targets. The river Kiiminkijoki offers many oppoturnities to have fun outside, for example fishing, hiking and paddling.
Haukipudas is near by the sea (Baltic Sea, but our part of the Baltic sea is called Bothnian Bay.) Baltic Sea is quite dirty and there are many organisations which are trying to make a difference on that situation. People in Finland are not the only people living by the Baltic Sea and other countries too must understand that we need to do something about Baltic sea becoming polluted.
by Sanna Å, Sirkku M. and Essi S.
Finnish Nature
In the summer sun never sets in Finland. It’s sunny even in the midnight. Though the summer is quite short here and it isn’t so hot it is still beautiful time. Finland has thousands of lakes and it’s really amazing to see the sun mirroring from the water.
The autumn is pretty nice too here. The autumn colors are just wonderful. All the leafy trees shine in the colors from pure yellow to red. Mountains with little leafy trees shine in these colors and the forests of Finland are most beautiful at this time.
In the winter the whole nature in Finland turns pure white. It is wonderful to see the lakes when they are all white and surrounded by trees that have white covers on them. In the forest you can see some green and brown when the trees aren’t completely covered with snow.
In spring all the snow melts and nature is getting back to green. Little green leaves are growing from trees and the grass is starting to grow where ever the snow has melted already. Early flowers are starting to grow and soon first of them start to bloom.
- Heija L.
Finnish Nature
Nature is one of the most amazing things in my country. That’s why I would like to tell you something about Finnish nature and its properties.
The best thing about Finnish nature is definitely its biodiversity. Environment in Northern parts is totally different comparing to Southern parts. However, I will focus on Northern Finland because it’s so special.
In Lapland, where the Santa Claus lives, we have little mountains, coniferous woods and fens. Furthermore there are little rivers, where the water is so pure that you can drink it! There are many special things which make Lapland famous, for example certain animals as reindeer, moose and bears.
In summer time it’s typical that the sun doesn’t go down at all. We call it as “midnight sun”. During winter the weather and nature are totally opposite. There is hardly any sun light and it is very cold (from minus 1 to minus 30 C) and snowy. We have also autumn and spring, so eventually we have four seasons. In spring the snow melts down and nature starts to get ready for the summer. After summer we have autumn, when leaves fall down from the trees and nature has many different colors, such as brown, red and yellow. Autumn colors are stunning especially in Lapland.
-Marja K.
The Fortress of Suomenlinna
The Fortress of Suomenlinna has a long and interesting history. The area of Suomenlinna consists of eight islands. Its construction was begun in 1748 by Sweden, but it never reached the size which was being planned. The idea was to defend the city of Helsinki mainly from Russia. After that Suomenlinna has been a part of many remarkable battles in Finland's past.
Finnish Naval Academy is nowadays located in Suomenlinna. Actually it has been there since the 1920's. The Fortress of Suomenlinna is also popular tourist attraction. There are some museums, church and the last surviving Finnish submarine. But Suomenlinna is not only a trip to the past. About 900 inhabitants live and 350 people work there, for example in an art school for children. In summer theatrical performances are arranged and they gather a lot of audience. Many concerts and other cultural events are held there too. Islands are full of different kind of coffee shops and restaurants. It seems the place is not dead at all.
-Mikko P.
Finnish nature
Nature is a big part of our identity. We take pride in our great forests, clean waters and mostly clear air. But that is sometimes at risk, because people take nature for granted.
Since we are born we are shown the beauty of our country’s nature. We are educated to appreciate nature and respect it. If we don’t, then someday nature might not be as beautiful.
Our land is quite flat. We don’t really have any mountains, only somewhat big hills and they are mostly in Northern Finland. The scenery around here mostly consists of big forests, thousands of lakes and rivers and the ocean with its islands in Southern Finland.
So our nature here in Finland is clean and beautiful. A lot to take care of.
-Tanya J.
Finnish nature is wonderful!
I love Finnish nature most in the autumn. It doesn`t matter where I am, nature is just beautiful with all the colours of the autumn.
A year ago I took a trekking course. We were in Kuusamo which is in the eastern part of Finland. The colours were glowing in yellow, orange, red and the late green remaining from the summer. There are a lot of different kinds of water bodies in Kuusamo; lakes and rivers.
Nature is very important to Finnish people in general since not so long ago we all were living in the countryside. The oldest cities are a few centuries old and that means our city culture is young if you compare it to the southern Europe, for example.
Our forests are clean and we are able to collect berries and mushrooms freely. We can also go fishing in many places. And we can even drink the water of the northern rivers of Finland!
-Karoliina K.
THE WILDLIFE OF FINLAND
Finland is well-known around the world as the land of thousands of lakes. And no wonder, since there are more than 56 000 beautiful, large lakes in Finland. This makes Finland uniquely rich when it comes to the amount of water it has. The world of ours is already suffering from lack of clean water, so Finland’s future seems to be economically well guaranteed. Finland has the potential to be the world’s saviour and get very rich at the same time in the future, at least in theory.
But when talking about Finland’s nature we shall not forget Finnish forests either. Finland is the most forested country in Europe. About 70% of Finland’s surface area is covered by rugged coniferous forests, where the wolves howl and the brown bears roam. Thanks to timber, Finland raised from deep depths and became what it is now today, a wealthy northern country.
As mentioned before, there are wolves and brown bears in Finland. Other famous large predators that you may collide with in Finland are, for example, lynxes and threatening wolverines. Finland is also the only EU country where you can find flying squirrels. It is estimated that Finland is a home of over 42 000 different animal, plant and fungi species. Icy goddess of winter smiles when she draws the astonishing northern lights across the sky of Finland.
-Jiri K.
The Fortress of Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna is in Finland and it is located near Helsinki. It was built in the 18th century and it was an important part of Finland’s defence system.
Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s most popular tourist attractions. About 900 people live in the Island so it has become a little village.
Suomenlinna is open all year round and trip is not long, it last only 15 minutes from Helsinki. In winter all places are not open but summer offers to the visitors magnificent experience.
Suomenlinna has six museums, exhibitions and you can take tourist guide. There are also happenings such as Viapory Jazz, summer/children's theatre. Suomenlinna has a fantastic restaurant, cafes and its own beer garden.
In 1991 it was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List because it is a unique military architectural monument.
-Johanna Å
Petäjävesi Old Church
Since 1994 Petäjävesi Old Church has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. Petäjävesi Old Church is considered to be beautiful because of its look which is a mix of Renaissance and old Gothic elements.
The Old Church is a Lutheran church and it is located in Petäjävesi in Finland. It is made of wood and I think that makes it look very comfortable and safe place. The Church was built in 1763-1764 and right next to it there is a belfry which was built in 1821.
Because of a new church built in Petäjävesi, people stopped using the Old Church in 1879. It was empty for several years until in 1920s it was found again and it became famous because of it looks. The Old Church represents a Lutheran church of the Scandinavian tradition. In 2001 Finland formed a foundation to protect, to take care and to repair the Petäjävesi Old Church and its environment.
I think that it is an honor that something from Finland belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Still we have to remember that Petäjävesi Old Church is only one of the natural inheritances and cultural heritages that exist in the world. It is out mission to protect them.
-Maija K.
Old Rauma
Old Rauma is the largest historical wooden town in the Nordic countries. Today it’s still active and unified town, where about 800 people live and work all year long. There are 600 buildings in the area of 28 hectares. Most of them are privately owned and the owners themselves have fixed the buildings with the respect of old. The business is concentrated around the market square (little shops, coffee houses…) like in the old days.
Old Rauma was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1991, whose objects represent internationally very valuable cultural and natural heritage. Old Rauma was chosen as a unique example of living and well preserved Nordic wooden town.
The buildings consist mostly of dwellings but there are outbuildings, old animal sheds and granaries also. The gates and fences (plank walls) border the plots. In some buildings you can see features from the 1700´s, 1820´s or 1830´s. However, most of the buildings have received their neo-Renaissance exterior during the renovation in the 1890´s.
Old Rauma is fascinating old wooden town, which has a colourful history. In the 16 th century it burned many times but the last huge fire was in 1682. There are also many sights like Pyhän Ristin kirkko (“Holy Cross church”) which was built in 16 th century, art museum of Rauma and much more. It was interesting also that there’s the narrowest street of Finland called “Kitukränn”.
-Marcus M.
Kierikki
Since 1960 archeologists have travelled there to dig evidence how human once lived in the Stone Age. This place is located in Yli-Ii, about 53 kilometers from Oulu to North-East. The place is called Kierikki.
Archeologists have noticed that people lived in quite big villages in houses which had only one big room but row houses weren’t unusual. Fish and seal gains were a significant source of food. Living near water course made it possible to live in same place throughout the year.
Kierikki is important place because people can go there and learn how prehistoric people lived. You can see villages which resemble prehistoric ways. You also can try to make jewelleries similarly as thousands of years ago.
by Jenny S
FINNISH NATURE
Finland is known for its beautiful nature. Blue lakes, green forests, fresh air and white winters are the basic components of our nature. Summer is the time of the sun; the sun shines throughout day and night. Winter is a time for a rest for the nature and many of its residents. Snow gives light for otherwise dark climate.
Leaves are growing to the trees, every place is starting to be green and the lightness is increased.
Nature is very important for the Finns. It is a place where one can go to calm down, relax or do things. It is a place that anyone can and should enjoy!
by Laura S
Finnish nature mostly consist of flat landscapes, clean waters and many forests. Unlike other northern countries, we don’t have many mountains. We have only a few fjells that are slightly smaller than mountains.
Our forests are big and they supply our paper industry. In spite of that, the forests are not endangered. That is because of tree farming. After some of the forest is chopped down, some trees are left standing and new ones are planted in place of the old ones.
Because of our low land we have many lakes and rivers that are mainly clear and clean. We don’t have much problems with pollution in our nature because we honour our nature.
by Carita J.
We agree with Arto and Mikko ! Money is more useful than other stuff
NP: AC/DC - Money Talks
Finnish nature is very beautifull and we should be gratefull that we have born to finland. We should also be happy that we still have forests and clean nature.
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