Restoration Measures Have Increased Bird Numbers in the Kulla Nature Conservation Area 

Kone Foundation commissioned a survey of the breeding bird population in its Kulla Nature Conservation Area this year. The survey was done for a second time. According to the survey, the number of breeding bird pairs is increasing, and more bird species were observed than before. 

In 2017, Kone Foundation established a nature conservation area on a 129-hectare forest plot located in Kulla, Kimitoön in Southwest Finland. Following the establishment of the conservation area, the Foundation carried out restoration measures in the area’s peatlands and forests to improve and safeguard biodiversity. To monitor the effects of restoration, Kone Foundation has commissioned several surveys and measurements related to the species and the forest structure in the area. 

One of these surveys concerns the number of birds breeding in the area. The breeding bird survey was first carried out in 2020, before most of the restoration work had been done. This year, we ordered a new survey so that we could compare the results and observe how the breeding bird situation has developed as a result of restoration. Both surveys were conducted by biologist Panu Kunttu, PhD (Agriculture and Forestry). 

Bird numbers in the conservation area have increased 

Breeding bird counts on both survey occasions were carried out using the territory-mapping method. This year, 45 different breeding bird species and a total of 384 pairs were recorded in the conservation area. 

The new survey shows that the number of breeding pairs in Kulla is rising: this year there were 27 more pairs than in the 2020 mapping. The density of breeding pairs in the area is clearly higher than in comparable heath forests on average. 

There were also changes in the species composition. This year, six species were breeding in the area that were not observed in 2020. Four species found in the previous survey were not encountered this year, meaning that the total number of species increased by two between the surveys. New breeding species in Kulla included, for example, the rustic bunting, Eurasian three-toed woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker and common crane. 

“The presence of the rustic bunting was particularly significant, as the species has almost disappeared from Southwest Finland. Restoration in Kulla has created suitable habitat that the bird has found,” notes Panu Kunttu. 

Protection and restoration improve breeding opportunities for birds 

According to the survey, the restoration measures carried out in the Kulla Nature Conservation Area have improved the area’s ecological quality by increasing the amount of deadwood, diversifying the tree stand, and rewetting peatlands. These effects are reflected in the growth of bird numbers and the appearance of new breeding species. 

The survey notes that many demanding species, as well as species on Finland’s Red List—endangered or near threatened—breed in the conservation area. Such species in Kulla include the willow tit (four pairs), classified as endangered; the hazel grouse (two pairs) and crested tit (six pairs), both vulnerable; and the northern goshawk (one pair), the Eurasian jay (two pairs), and the rustic bunting (one pair), all near threatened. In addition, the lesser spotted woodpecker (one pair) breeding in the area is considered sparse in Finland. 

“Many of these declining species require old-growth forests or forests with features characteristic of old growth, which are decreasing in southern Finland,” Kunttu explains. 

The survey’s conclusions warn that large-scale logging near the conservation area weakens the situation of bird species that depend on contiguous forest areas and old-growth forests. A larger conservation area would promote the increase of bird populations and, more broadly, the preservation of biodiversity in the region. 

Download the survey (in Finnish)