Photo: Metla's archive

Punkaharju has a very long tradition in forest research and management. Intensive management of the esker forests started already in the early 19th century, when czar Alexander I of Russia paid an inspection visit to this part of Finland in 1803. When he saw the mismanaged esker forests he ordered that the land in the esker area should be transferred to the state (the crown), that burnbeating and other forest devastation should be prohibited, and that the forests should thereafter be managed with care, preserving the scenic beauty of the area. This started the development of the area that today is the best known among the Finnish national landscapes. In 1840, the Finnish senate decided to establish a nature conservation area (a crown park) in the central esker area. However, the plan was not realised until 1843 because of ownership disputes.

The cultivation of exotic tree species aroused wide interest in the second half of the 19th century. Consequently, Punkaharju's first trial plots with exotic species were planted in 1877 by Anton Gabriel Blomqvist, the founding father of the Finnish silviculture. The area was administered by the National Board of Forestry (Finnish Forest and Park Service). The guesthouse that belongs to the research station dates back to the same period.

When the Finnish Forest Research Institute established its first research areas in 1924, one of them was located in Punkaharju. A nursery garden was also founded in the area but it was closed down later. Right after the research area had been established, research work started in Punkaharju with Professor Olli Heikinheimo's experiments in forest genetics. Punkaharju was the centre of forest genetics in Finland already in the 1920's.

Professor Risto Sarvas had a strong influence in Punkaharju becoming an important research unit. He founded a breeding station at the old school premises in Laukansaari in the 1960's. The station was soon cramped for space and, consequently, moved to new premises in 1983. In 1988 the experiment station was upgraded to a research station. New extensions were built in 1997 and the following year Finland's first greenhouse for gene technology was built to complement the facilities of the research station. The old greenhouses at Kotilahti had earlier been renovated for research purposes.

The research carried out at Punkaharju has in the course of time developed significantly; it is now many-sided, modern and highly regarded also internationally. To sum up, Punkaharju research station has for over 70 years done international research surrounded by one of the Finnish national landscapes.

The heads of the Research Station (Breeding Station):

Martti Ryynänen 1982 - 1985
Leena Ryynänen 1985 - 1989
Juhani Häggman 1989 -

The managers of the research area:

Emil Siira 1924 - 1952
Erkki Häyrynen 1952 - 1972
Antero Mikkola 1972 - 2002
Katriina Huttunen 2003 - 2007