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Nummela ‘gateway’
wetlandpark
C
ontext
The
NummelaGatewayWetlandPark
was constructed in 2010 to celebrate the United Nations Year of Biodiversity. It is
located in the municipality of Vihti, in the Uusimaa region of Southern Finland. The park is at the main freeway entrance
from the Metropolitan Helsinki Area to Nummela.Vihti is located in the Kymijoki-Gulf of Finland River Basin District. Nummela
GatewayWetland Park was implemented as part of a wider project at the
catchment level,
following a holistic assessment
of watershed processes and dynamics. New wetlands were created along the heavily degraded stream corridor to compensate
for land-use changes within the watershed and to establish critically endangered clay stream corridor habitats, and a large
wetland park named the Nummela GatewayWetland Park was established at the mouth of the
Kilsoi stream
, just upstream
of Lake Enäjärvi. Over a half of the 550ha watershed is urbanized, but agricultural lands remain: the wetland has been
implemented at an abandoned crop field site. Climate in the area is cool temperate moist with 4.6°C mean temperature
and 650mm/year of rainfall.
M
anagement
issues
Two main management issues are targeted by the project.
First, due to land-use changes and inadequate urban waste
water management until the 1970s, the Lake Enäjärvi had
been experiencing
poorwaterquality
and related adverse
impacts such as increased algal blooms and fish mortality.
Secondly, problems such as heavy erosion during rain and
snowmelt events, degradation and loss of habitats, and low
water quality were common in the area, preventing local
people from accessing and enjoying their
surrounding
natural environment
. The Kilsoi stream was disappearing
into pipes and culverts and its name had been erased from
maps. A mere straightened drainage ditch that had been
cleared of vegetation was all that remained, and was not
recognised as an asset in city planning.
NWRM IMPLEMENTED
•
U11: Retention ponds
© O.Wahlroos, University
Helsinki (Dpt. Forest Sciences)
The Nummela Gateway Wetland Park is an oasis
for urban dwellers
Urbanisation was degrading the Kilsoi Stream and sealing it into culverts
until a management change was made in early 21st century.
© O.Wahlroos, University
Helsinki (Dpt. Forest Sciences)
