Many species thrive in meadows

The verdant Espoo is a modern, growing city that increasingly emphasises the built urban environment. Agriculture has played an important role in the long history of Espoo, and various farming and grazing practices have shaped the city's landscape and nature for hundreds of years. Groves have been turned into fields, but human activity has also created new, open and species-rich habitats, which are now known as traditional biotopes. These include meadows, grazing forests and pasturages.

Numerous species have adapted to these environments created through agriculture. However, since traditional grazing is no longer practiced, old agricultural environments are also disappearing in Espoo and the species specific to them have less and less suitable habitats. A significant portion of the endangered species in Finland, about 23 percent, live in meadows and other traditional biotopes.

Fortunately, many of the species from these traditional biotopes can also thrive in new meadows to be established and, for example, in roadside areas. Appropriate management of traditional biotopes and other meadow areas is also part of biodiversity maintenance. The City of Espoo manages in its area several meadows and scenic fields as well as traditional biotopes to ensure that they do not intergrow. Grazing animals are utilised in the maintenance of the landscape and biodiversity in the surroundings of Laajalahti and Fiskarsinmäki, maintained by Metsähallitus Parks and Wildlife Finland.

Surveys of traditional biotopes have been carried out in Espoo in 2003 and 2014. Meadows make the landscape more attractive and the living environment more comfortable. They are also a source of nourishment for pollinators and living conditions for other species that have adapted to these environments.

Although many of our traditional biotopes are relatively small and partly intergrown already, there are real gems among them and noteworthy plant species are still common. These include the cat’s foot, the yellow bedstraw and the maiden pink. There is also an impressive number of butterfly species living in the meadows.
 

The purpose of the management of Espoo’s meadows is to maintain biodiversity and strengthen the characteristics of the meadows. At the same time, effort is being made to secure their versatile recreational potential for the growing population. The most common method of meadow maintenance is mowing once or twice a growing season. In addition, a few sites have cut meadow paths. On some sites, mowing waste is collected and transported away. One site in Suvisaaristo is used as a sheep pasture. The management of the meadows is the responsibility of the Public Works Department.

Two of the city’s fields are cultivated as scenic fields in Muuralanlaaksonpuisto and Pisa. In the spring, annual flowering plants, such as sunflowers and phacelias, are planted in scenic fields. Most of the fields owned by the City of Espoo have been leased to private farmers.

The operating model for the management of Espoo’s forests and meadows is a policy on what is the objective of the maintenance of Espoo’s forests and meadows and how the management will be implemented. In turn, the nature and landscape management plans describe how forest areas and meadows will be managed in the coming years. Most of the management proposals concerning Espoo’s meadows are included in the nature and landscape management plans.

Espoo’s action plan for meadows and open areas directs their maintenance and development. Developing the meadow network makes it possible to make meadows an even more important part of residents’ living environment and the ecological network.

Residents and stakeholders are consulted in the preparation of the nature and landscape management plans. You can submit your feedback on management needs, such as trees that are in poor condition, to the customer service of the Urban Environment.