Biodiversity Park
With the help of the Helmi habitats programme the Biodiversity Park was established on a former commercial plot to create living space for rare plants and insects living on them. The area is protected under Section 77 of the Nature Conservation Act because two moth species requiring special protection, Ethmia terminella and Euzophera cinerosella, live in the park.
Various plants important to pollinators grow in the Biodiversity Park. The open sandy soil, deadwood fence, pile of rocks and insect hotels create shelters and nests for pollinator insects and other invertebrates. The park also offers a habitat for birds, bats, viviparous lizards, moss species and mushrooms. On the edge of the woods, there are houses for birds and bats. The area is managed by weeding and mowing the covering vegetation in accordance with the management plan.
Ethmia terminella on viper’s bugloss
Ethmia terminella is a critically endangered nocturnal moth that lives on viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare). Viper’s bugloss came to Taalintehdas, Finland as a ballast and an ornamental plant in the mid-19th century, probably in iron ore ships from Stockholm. In Taalintehdas, viper’s bugloss with its blue-red flowers is common in dry places, such as roadsides, but the species is rare elsewhere in Finland. Viper’s bugloss is also home to other rare moths, such as Ethmia bipunctella, the bugloss spear wing (Tinagma ocnerostomellum) and Cynaeda dentalis.
Ethmia terminella larva on viper’s bugloss
Ethmia terminella larvae pupate in the dead stem of the plant, in rotten wood or in the ground, where they hibernate as pupae.
Euzophera cinerosella on common wormwood
Euzophera cinerosella is an endangered moth that flies in the evening and lives on common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium).Cultivated as an herbal and spice plant, common wormwood is a neophyte that grows in dry places in Taalintehdas.
A new beetle species for Finland
In 2012, a new beetle species for Finland was found in Taalintehdas, Longitarsus exsoletus, which lives on viper’s bugloss.
Helmi programme
The Helmi habitat programme is a joint programme of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, implemented jointly by the administrative sectors of the ministries, municipalities and organisations. The programme aims to strengthen Finland’s biodiversity and is a key tool for halting biodiversity loss. The Helmi programme aims to tackle the main direct cause of biodiversity loss in Finnish nature: decrease in habitats and deterioration of their quality. The programme’s actions will provide help to hundreds of endangered species and most of the endangered habitats in our country.