Tips for helping nature

Did you know that a fully-grown tree is a real treasure? On hot days, trees provide shade and cool their surroundings, and on rainy days, their roots absorb water effectively. Trees also provide nourishment and a habitat for numerous birds, insects and fungi. Read more from the brochure and get to know, how you benefit from trees on your courtyard and how to preserve any trees growing on your plot during construction: Stand by your tree: why you should save your tree and how

Helping nature in your own garden

Yards and gardens can be diverse and sheltered habitats for many species to thrive in. Maintaining a garden with natural means does not mean having an untidy garden; instead, it means having a garden whose vegetation, life and nature reflect the natural growing conditions of the garden.

In your own garden, you can maintain biodiversity through plant selections: favour species that can also be found in Finnish nature. Domestic plant species have adapted to the conditions prevailing here, and foreign seedlings may bring with them invasive species and pesticides that are dangerous for pollinators. Bees, bumblebees and butterflies will thank you for choosing for your garden pollinator-friendly plants that bloom at different times and provide pollinators with food throughout the growing season.

A gardener interested in biodiversity will keep a lush garden that has blooming plants and flowers for pollinators throughout the summer. Many of the plants we think of as weeds are important for pollinators.Photo: Noelle Renberg

In nature, nutrients circulate locally, so if you are mowing the lawn, leave the clippings and leaves on the ground to enrich the soil. Organic matter and plant parts such as compost, manure, ash, various mulches, grass clippings, twig chips and other decomposable material work well as organic fertilizers. Establishing a wildflower meadow is truly an act for the environment!

As a result of effective forest management, there is too little decaying wood in our forests, which is why many species dependent on decaying wood are in danger of disappearing. Decaying wood can be utilised in yards and gardens in a variety of structures such as a fence built of decaying twigs and branches or border structures for plantings. For example, flower beds or garden paths can be bordered with blocks of wood. If you cut down a tree, leave as high a stump as possible in the yard to provide the organisms living in your yard with enough decaying wood for a long time. 

If you have a pond or some wetland in your yard, you can provide a habitat for many aquatic and waterside plants and organisms that thrive in humid conditions. At the same time, the pond can be a tool for managing stormwater locally.

If it is not possible to build a garden pond, you can provide animals and birds with water and a respite from the summer heat by placing a container full of water in your yard or on your balcony. You can prevent the drowning of small birds, mice or shrews by placing a large rock in the water container so that the animals can use the stone to climb out of the container.Photo: Noelle Renberg

Biodiversity can also be maintained in a block of flats. Set up a balcony box with pollinator-friendly flowers or suggest that your housing company make the courtyard more diverse with flowering plants, a courtyard pond or a fence made of decaying wood.

Easy building and crafting instructions

Building nesting boxes and artificial nests is both a nice pastime and a great help to birds, bats and hedgehogs. Decaying wood can be utilised in many yard or garden structures such as a fence built with decaying twigs and branches or border structures for plantings.

Remember that before you can hang a nesting box for birds or bats, you need to have the landowner’s permission. Hanging nesting boxes in city-owned forests is not allowed.

Forest birds nesting in Finland are threatened by the lack of nesting sites as our forests have few trees that can be used as nesting trees. If you want to hear birds chirping, you just need to hang a nesting box in your yard or in a sunlit forest.

BirdLife Finland has prepared comprehensive instructions for building nesting boxes (in Finnish): Building a nesting box for birds(external link, opens in a new window)

A pied flycatcher at the entrance to a nesting box. — Nesting boxes are favoured by tits, pied flycatchers and starlings, for example. A photograph of a pied flycatcher.Photo: Noelle Renberg

As a result of changes in habitats, bats have become rarer in Finland. Bats need places where they can hide and rest during the day. Bats living in the attic or outbuilding must not be disturbed, because all bat species found in Finland are protected.

Building a nesting box for bats is easy; the box just needs to be open at the bottom and have many nooks. Attach it high on the exterior wall of your house or on a separate pole. The best environment for a nesting box is an open and warm place. Make sure that there is nothing that blocks the entrance to the box.

The Finnish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS has prepared instructions for building a nesting box for bats (in Finnish): Build a nesting box for bats!(external link, opens in a new window)

The hedgehog has become endangered in Finland due to things such as traffic and environmental toxins. In Finland, hedgehogs mainly live in man-made environments where they can find insects to eat in piles of leaves and other similar places.

Hedgehogs hibernate in dry and warm places such as woodpiles, leaf composts, piles of leaves and suitable spots found under houses. In order to make the hibernation as safe as possible, you can build a winter nest for a hedgehog. The nest box must be placed in a quiet place, protected from predators and insulated so that no moisture can accumulate. The bottomless box is padded with dry leaves and filled with hay or similar material.

The Finnish page has instructions for building a hedgehog nest.

A hedgehog's nest hidden in a pile of leaves so that only its shadowed entrance can be seen. — Camouflaging the completed nest so that it blends into the landscape protects the hedgehog from predators and insulates the nest against cold in the winter.Photo: Anna Hakala

The many species of animals, fungi and micro-organisms that are involved in the decaying process are an important link in the nutrient cycle. However, as a result of effective forest management, there is not enough decaying wood, which is why many species dependent on decaying wood are in danger of disappearing. An easy way to preserve biodiversity in your garden is to increase the amount of decaying wood.

Decaying wood can be utilised in the yard or garden in a variety of structures, such as a fence built of decaying twigs and branches, or it can be made part of planting structures. On the Finnish page, you can find clear and simple instructions for making a flower bed surrounded by blocks of decaying wood, a snag and a rotten log.

A fence consisting of decaying twigs placed between two rows of poles. — If a lot of twigs and branches accumulate in your garden, you can collect them and turn them into a fence. Building the fence is easy; you only need to place branches, trunk pieces and other wood between two rows of poles. The fence will gradually decay and provide decaying wood for the species that use it, even for decades.Photo: Anna Hakala

An insect hotel is a nest built for insects, where insects can nest and hibernate, and where they are safe from birds. The hotel can provide shelter for a wide range of insects in places where there are naturally few decaying trees or suitable holes. The insect hotel should be placed in a sunny place.

On the Finnish page, you can find simple and clear instructions for crafting an insect hotel using reeds or blocks of wood. The video shows the different phases of building a hotel out of reeds. Crafting a reed hotel is also a suitable activity for children. Under the right to roam, you can collect a small amount of flattened reeds for your own use from anywhere where people are allowed to wander.

You can also check out the City of Hyvinkää’s Insect Hotel instructions(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish) to build an insect hotel that resembles a house.

The video is in Finnish.

Butterfly bars are a source of additional nourishment, which benefit butterflies and other pollinating insects, especially in spring and autumn when flowering plants are scarce. In addition to artificial feeding, butterflies would also benefit from wildflowers grown in the garden or on the balcony.

On the Finnish page, you can find simple and clear instructions for building a butterfly bar. The butterfly bar is built from a glass jar, foam and nectar that attracts pollinators. The glass jar should be hung in a sunny place near wildflowers or, for example, on a balcony.

The video is in Finnish.

Working together for the nature in Espoo

In Espoo, residents, associations, communities, educational institutions and companies can take responsibility for the management of their local environment and contribute to the work supporting urban biodiversity. There are many different ways to take care of local nature, and you can choose the one that suits you the best. In addition, there are many nature conservation organisations and resident associations in Espoo that you can participate in. More information about different forms of volunteer work can be found on the Clean-up events webpage.

Espoo encourages associations and communities to work to promote biodiversity and is happy to cooperate with residents in nature restoration projects. Contact Environmental Protection to present your ideas.

How you can support biodiversity:

Organise or participate in a volunteer effort. Many invasive plant species have spread to vast areas in Espoo and fighting them through community effort is important. Species that are particularly suitable targets for volunteer work are the Himalayan balsam, the rugosa rose and the lupin. More information about invasive species and the organisation of volunteer work is available on the Invasive species webpage.
Join an effort for traditional landscapes. A significant portion of Finland's endangered plant species grows on meadows, and many insects are also dependent on meadow plants. Every August, the traditional landscape in the Laajalahti nature reserve is preserved through volunteer work. The activities included in the work are suitable for the whole family. You can ask for more information about the volunteer effort from Nature House Villa Elfvik.
Plan a waterbody restoration project and apply for a grant. When it comes to restoring and managing waterbodies whose natural state has deteriorated, active local effort is particularly important. Environmental Protection grants annually support for measures that aim to restore waterbodies in Espoo. More information and application instructions can be found on the Vesistökunnostusavustukset (in Finnish) webpage.

The volunteer work carried out in the meadows of the Laajalahti nature reserve to preserve the traditional landscape is an opportunity for the participants to learn more about traditional agricultural methods. Cutting the field and removing the resulting waste will keep the traditional biotopes open and suitable for meadow plants.Photo: Jonne Linna-Alho

Helping nature in your own garden

Easy building and crafting instructions

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Working together for the nature in Espoo

How you can support biodiversity:

Tips for helping nature

Helping nature in your own garden

Easy building and crafting instructions

Building a nesting box for birds

Building a nesting box for bats

Building a winter nest for hedgehogs

How to utilise decaying wood in your garden

Building an insect hotel

Building a butterfly bar

Working together for the nature in Espoo

How you can support biodiversity: