Koskelan Pasture in Lohikoski is a nationally valuable traditional biotope area. The pasture was chosen as the 2020 Landscape Work of the Year in South Savo.

Traditional biotope area
Meadows, dry grasslands, wooded pastures, and forest pastures are endangered habitat types shaped by traditional agriculture, rich in diverse species. Koskela Pasture is a varied and beautiful complex of meadows and changing wooded pastures, covering about 10 hectares on both sides of Myllytie road.

In the meadow areas grow notable species such as the bright magenta-colored maiden pink, spiked bellflower, ribwort plantain, and pölkkyruoho (a plant species indicating early settlement). Along the roadside ditch bank grow yellow clover and red campion. On the drier meadow patches can be found huopakeltano and ahopukinjuuri. The pine groves, mixed with groups of grey alder, offer shelter for grazing animals and are home to unusually dense jäkki (a type of grass) and wild mint. The shoreline meadow is also part of this fine ecosystem, grazed by the dairy cows and young cattle from Koskela Organic Farm. Traditional biotopes lose their value without grazing or other maintenance.

The value of Koskela Pasture is enhanced by the diversity of its traditional biotope types and vegetation, its many noteworthy species (a total of 13), the near-threatened jäkki and kesämaitiainen, and the regionally threatened wild mint. In addition, the area has a long and continuous grazing history and possesses both scenic and cultural-historical significance.
– Saimaa Geopark.fi