Heinäsuotie

Since 2011, Heinäsuo is a peat mining area of 36 ha. The city of Kuopio claims that it is part of sustainable energy production, which is hard to believe.

The area (to the left on this picture in 2008) used to be a peat bog which was drained and planted with forest. Somewhere in the 90’s the primitive trail was replaced by one of the modern forest (harvesting) roads that can nowadays be found all over Finland.

Only one row of poorly growing pine trees remained as a ‘protective’ border between the road and the peat mining area. The reason for preserving the trees was the occurrence of the red list dragonfly species O. cecilia on the road.

Yearly, a few cm’s of peat are harvested until all peat is gone. What happens next is not clear yet. The area is completely destroyed and no longer open for the public.It is shameful that this can happen in a developed country like Finland. Also, it is shameful that still almost all bogs in the Liesjärvi area are being drained and planted with (poorly growing) forest.

Dragonfly observations Heinäsuotie
 SpeciesFinnish nameAdultExuviae
1A. grandis+-
2A. juncea++
3O. cecilia+-
4O. forcipatus+-
5S. metallica++
6S. arctica+-
7L. quadrimaculata+-
8L. dubia+-
9L. rubicunda-+
10S. flaveolum+-