Joutsan municipality enforces parking ban to protect endangered kätköpää beetle habitat

The building manager of Joutsan municipality, Pinja Weijo, has unveiled a newly erected traffic sign indicating a parking ban, accompanied by an additional sign prohibiting the clearing or piling of snow in the area. This site, located adjacent to a less than 1,000-square-meter nature reserve, has specific regulations due to the presence of a rare beetle, the kätköpää, which resides there. Despite the ban, the area is likely to attract parkers, as it features a path leading to a side gate of a nearby cemetery.

The kätköpää, a member of the leaf beetle family, was discovered in 2001 by three students from the University of Jyväskylä. Since then, Joutsan municipality and the Central Finland ELY Centre have worked together to protect this endangered species. A nature reserve was designated in 2008, and annual management efforts have been in place since 2021 to remove debris and overgrowth from the area.

According to Jari Haimi, a docent and senior lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä, the kätköpää is an extremely rare and endangered species in Finland, with only about 100 recorded sightings. The Joutsan habitat is noted as one of the best environments for this beetle. Haimi speculates that the kätköpää might have been present in the area longer than Joutsan itself, suggesting that the village may have developed around the beetles’ habitat.

Human activity has significantly diminished natural habitats for the kätköpää, as past ecological practices like forest fires, which created favorable conditions for the beetle, are now virtually absent in Finland. Despite its small habitat, the kätköpää population in Joutsan remains relatively strong, a positive sign given the challenges of sustaining endangered insect species.