Managing biocultural landscapes in the Archipelago Sea, Finland

The Archipelago Sea with its national park that includes thousands of islands is one of the ecologically most diverse areas in Finland. One of the most valuable biotopes are the traditional rural biotopes that are often result of hundreds of years of traditional agricultural activities. They represent a type of land-use that has disappeared during the last 100-200 years. Therefore they are also valuable as cultural heritage sites, historical landscapes and as a part of the historical identity of the people living in the area.

During recent years we have been working on developing methods to manage and conserve these areas. A multidisciplinary group consisting of archaeologists, historians, geographers and biologists worked together in this process. One key factor in how to approach areas with a multitude of values that sometimes can be contradictory to each other have been to use a landscape approach.

In this paper we will show how the use of a combination of archaeological, historical, biological and landscape expertise can find new approaches to the preservation of both ecologically and culturally important areas. An intensive analysis of the historical land-use can contribute to the understanding of both the landscape and ecology of the area today. In the Archipelago Sea many of the ecologically most important sites are also the ones with the longest history of landscape utilization. Many times they are also valuable to the visitors and inhabitants, which is a value that also has to be considered. On the other hand the management of biological and cultural values can sometimes have contradictory approaches. In these cases a larger interdisciplinary regional landscape approach is needed in order to understand the area as whole with its systems. This enables prioritizing and choices of management approaches suitable for each area.

The Archipelago Sea with its national park that includes thousands of islands is one of the ecologically most diverse areas in Finland. One of the most valuable biotopes are the traditional rural biotopes that are often result of hundreds of years of traditional agricultural activities. They represent a type of land-use that has disappeared during the last 100-200 years. Therefore they are also valuable as cultural heritage sites, historical landscapes and as a part of the historical identity of the people living in the area.

During recent years we have been working on developing methods to manage and conserve these areas. A multidisciplinary group consisting of archaeologists, historians, geographers and biologists worked together in this process. One key factor in how to approach areas with a multitude of values that sometimes can be contradictory to each other have been to use a landscape approach.

In this paper we will show how the use of a combination of archaeological, historical, biological and landscape expertise can find new approaches to the preservation of both ecologically and culturally important areas. An intensive analysis of the historical land-use can contribute to the understanding of both the landscape and ecology of the area today. In the Archipelago Sea many of the ecologically most important sites are also the ones with the longest history of landscape utilization. Many times they are also valuable to the visitors and inhabitants, which is a value that also has to be considered. On the other hand the management of biological and cultural values can sometimes have contradictory approaches. In these cases a larger interdisciplinary regional landscape approach is needed in order to understand the area as whole with its systems. This enables prioritizing and choices of management approaches suitable for each area.