Punkaharju is one of Finland’s national landscapes

The new website for Punkaharju Nature Reserve has opened in October 2009. Punkaharju Esker is a beautiful ridge between two large lakes in South-eastern Finland. The area’s landscape is easy to explore along marked trails and paths which crisscross along the ridge. The area has been an internationally known tourist destination for two hundred years already due to the natural beauty of its landscape.

Punkaharju Nature Reserve the oldest protected areas in the world

Nature protection has long traditions in Finland. Punkaharju Esker was granted the status of a Crown Park Reserve as early as in 1843. In the first half of the 1800s, Punkaharju Esker started to gain in popularity as tourist attraction. By the end of the 19th century, it had also become a national landscape praised by artists.

When Finland became independent in 1917, the Nature Protection Act was decreed, and it became effective in 1923. It took, however, 15 years before the first national parks and other protected areas were established. Punkaharju Nature Reserve received its present status as a nature reserve in 1991. Nowadays there are 35 national parks and 19 strict nature reserves in Finland and a large number of other protected areas, and the work for nature protection continues.

More information

• Punkaharju Esker Nature Reserve
• National Landscapes: Finland’s National Emblem
• Finland´s National Parks: nature, sights and history
• One of World’s Oldest Protected Areas Established in Finland (www.metsa.fi)