Key uses of Viiankiaapa in the times gone by were haymaking, hunting and fishing. Local people pursued natural livelihoods, which the old ways of using the mire area supported. Livestock farming already started here around the 18th century. The meadows continued to be used until the 20th century, but in the late 1950s most barns located in this area were moved to arable fields.

There were many fen meadows around Lake Pikku Moskujärvi as well as along the Ylijoki River, and dozens of barns between Moskuvaara and Siurunmaa. Hay was also cut in the western part of the area in Tihiämaa. Residents of the nearby villages of Kersilö, Moskuvaara and Puolakkavaara came here to mow the meadows.
In the era of haymaking, a wooden dam structure in Tiukuoja stream was used to raise its waters to the meadow. In those days, the stream was known as Tammenniskanoja.
Perches and roaches were caught in Tiukuoja stream, and villagers fished for large pikes and perches and hunted ducks in Viiankijärvi Lake. They put up bird houses for waterfowl and collected eggs from them in early summer when food was scarce. The locals practised fishing with lights in the Ylijoki River, hunted squirrels, and caught ground-dwelling forest birds during their mating season.
Logs cut nearby were floated along the Ylijoki River in the early 1950s. In Särkikoskenmaa, the ruins of an old lumberjacks' hut from this era can still be seen, as well as stumps from the times the area was used for forestry purposes. To facilitate log floating, drains were dug to straighten out the many meanders of the Ylijoki River. There also was a lumberjacks' hut in Petäjäsaari, and it is likely that selective cutting was carried out there in the early 20th century. Privately owned forests have been felled outside the mire reserve in the northern part of the area. These parcels have since been purchased by the state and attached to the Natura site. Otherwise the forests in this area have been left untouched for decades.

The old fen meadow of about three hectares on the western shore of Lake Viiankijärvi was last mowed by the locals in the 1950s. Since then, efforts have been made to clear and mow the meadow to improve the living conditions of plant species that benefit from such management. A barn for storing hay was built on this site in 2003.

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