Need for conservation

Only a small proportion of the Finnish coast consists of material suitable for aeolian transport. The open plant communities of these beaches cover together only about 1300 ha, and this area is continuously diminishing. Endangered species occur in these rare habitats. One species classified as seriously threatened in the Finnish report (Uhanalaisten eläinten ja kasvien seurantatoimikunnan mietintö 1991) is Aegialia arenaria, a small beetle that lives in the root systems of Ammophila arenaria at Lappohja (Veikkolainen 1995). The life of endangered insects often depends on an endangered plant species. Artemisia campestris, Elymus farctus, Polygonum oxyspermum, Salsola kali, Stereocaulon incrustatum and Sphingonotus coerulans are endangered species which occur on sandy beaches, while the grass Ammophila arenaria, the ant Lasius meridionalis and the bug Phimodera humeralis and many other insects inhabiting the sandy coasts are classified as rare. Carex arenaria, Thymus serpyllum, Juncus balticus, Coelocaulon aculeatum and Cetraria nivalis are the provincially threatened species. The coastal dune fields also have their own mushrooms, with several rare species (Eriksson 1965) which have adapted to this dry, windy and poor habitat.

The reason for the above species being threatened or endangered is usually building or trampling in coastal areas, or sometimes the adverse effects of chemicals or invasion of the meadows by forest. As far as birds classified as threatened in Finland are concerned, Calidris alpina schinzii is suffering from disappearance of earlier dune meadows caused by forest and reedbed invasion, while many suitable nesting sites for Sterna albifrons have been destroyed by building on sandy beaches for the purposes of tourism (Elo 1992: 168, 178).

A lively tourist centre has been built in the Hietasärkät dune field at Kalajoki over the last ten years, and accomodation services have also been built at Yyteri and on Hailuoto. A large part of the Yyteri area has been levelled to provide a golf course, and there were once plans to build a winter sports centre on the Keisarinpankki dune (Satakunnan Kansa 1989), but these were obviously abandoned on account of the economic depression. The district of Lohtaja would also like to have its share of the income from tourism, and at least a part of the Vattajanhietikko dune field could be given over to this use (Hujanen 1990). The large-scale building of tourist centres and the subsequent intensive trampling inevitably destroy the plant communities and impoverish the flora. The same result has been achieved on the shores of Padva and Pietarsaari by harrowing.

Summer cottages have been constantly increasing in numbers on all the coasts. These reduce the areas of coast in a natural state, and also detract from public access to the coasts (c.f. Nordberg 1996). At Padva, for example, the vegetation has been preserved quite well around the cottages. A society for recreation areas in the province of Uusimaa bought the shore of Lappohja in summer 1995, including a beach that belongs to both the esker and coastal protection programmes, so that no substantial building is allowed. When an international scout camp was arranged in this area in summer 1996, efforts were made to protect the most vulnerable slopes and Ammophila communities.

Of all the Finnish coastal dune fields, only Tulliniemenhietikko, Vedagrundet and Henriksberg on the Hanko Peninsula and some parts of the Tauvo Peninsula in Siikajoki are nature reserves, while Lappohja and the delta of the Kalajoki river belong to the coastal conservation programme. In the Tulliniemi area the conservationists have had a violent battle against the spread of storage areas for the harbour into a nature reserve that was founded in 1933 (Keynäs et al. 1993). Some kind of agreement was achieved in autumn 1995, and obviously those parts of the dune field that are still left will be protected from building (Saavalainen 1995). One very characteristic feature of the public discussion is summed up in what the supervisor of nature conservation affairs said: 'I wonder if any kind of natural state can be lost in a flat sand field' (Demari 1990, cit. Keynäs et al. 1993). This demonstrates that protection can only be given to things that are commonly known. The highly vulnerable dune landscapes are not even mentioned in the folio of the Atlas of Finland (1988: folio 143) which deals with nature conservation. Until the latest proposal for a law, the status of the protection areas in the coastal dune fields has been connected with the protection of either eskers or bird life.

Only a small amount of research work has been carried out concerning the coastal dunes of Finland so far, and the only exact inventory has been made of the threatened insects of the dry meadows and sand fields of the Hanko Peninsula. EU international recommendations seem to be having some effect in Finland, however, and unspoiled sandy beaches and treeless sand dunes have now been proposed as areas for special protection. Thus many coastal dune fields are included in the suggestions for the European ecological network of special areas for conservation under the Natura 2000 programme. On the other hand, the new conservation programmes based on biodiversity do not take into account the limited flora and fauna of the dry, poor habitats prevailing on unspoiled coastal dune fields.

Many coastal dune fields such as Padva, Monäs, Vattajanniemi and Hailuoto belong to the esker protection programme or the more recent coastal protection programme. Only building and digging are regulated in esker protection areas, while the areas in the coastal protection programme should remain free of building, but these regulations are not enough for the protection of endangered plant and animal species. On the other hand, excessively powerful conservation might also be harmful to coastal meadows threatened by forest or reedbed invasion. Many of the endangered species are pioneer ones which need an open habitat in order to survive, so that trampling and grazing, if not too intensive, will maintain the diversity of the fauna and flora. Many plants such as Thymus serpyllum have declined in frequency as the meadows have developed a forest cover. The military areas of Vattaja and Hanko feature old plant communities and bare sand surfaces side by side, a land-use pattern that favours the dune plants.

The most important areas for protection are the coasts of the Hanko Peninsula, especially Tulliniemi and Lappohja, because of their rare southern flora and fauna. At Padva the calcium content of the soil affects the flora. Many endangered species are found on the vast sand fields of Yyteri, and the dense patch of mesic, herb-rich forest on the leeward slope of the Keisarinpankki dune is unique. Vattajanhietikko is significant because of its immense size. The most unspoiled dune coasts are to be found on the Tauvo Peninsula, while the effect of grazing can be seen on Hailuoto. Even minor areas are valuable when we are dealing with a rare habitat, as they increase the possibilities for threatened species to spread and survive.

As explained earlier, old dunes are highly vulnerable if they lose their vegetative cover, as water erosion is very powerful on such surfaces. For this reason special attention should be paid to the protection of the vegetation if one wishes to preserve the old dunes.