NatureGate: Finland's nature field guide
NatureGate (LuontoPortti) is a Finnish online field guide to flowers, trees, birds, butterflies and fish, with photos, descriptions and distribution maps in English.
What it is
NatureGate (LuontoPortti in Finnish) is an online field guide to the wildlife of Finland and northern Europe. It grew out of the work of Eija and Jouko Lehmuskallio, who had been photographing and documenting nature since the 1990s. In 2006 a research group formed around their idea at the University of Helsinki, and the service turned 15 in 2023. The site has a full English version.
It covers flowers, trees and shrubs, birds, butterflies and fish. The core feature is the identification tool: you pick characteristics — flower colour, leaf shape, habitat — and narrow down the list of species.
Why we picked it
Finland is usually sold through design, saunas and lakes. But a lot of Finnish culture is really about the forest: everyone's right to roam, berry and mushroom picking, birdwatching. NatureGate is a good way to get close to that nature.
Species pages read like a good printed field guide. The Finnish water-lily entry, for example, describes the flower, leaves, habitat and flowering season, and notes that its red-flowered variety is protected, that it has the smallest flowers of Finland's white water-lilies, and that it is absent from the other Nordic countries and central Europe. The distribution map comes from the University of Helsinki's plant atlas. Jouko Lehmuskallio himself is the lead plant photographer, and the bird pages include recorded calls.
The project has won Finland's State Award for Public Information and received an honourable mention from IUCN and UNESCO in 2010. Its book on 122 edible wild herbs recently came out in English.
Where to start
- Hit "Identify" and try to name a flower you saw recently.
- Open Birds and listen to the calls of species you already know.
- Read the Finnish water-lily page as an example of a full entry.
- Browse Butterflies — many species there range across northern Europe.
- Check "About us" for the story behind the project.
Who it's for
Anyone living in northern latitudes — the flora and fauna overlap heavily with Scandinavia, the Baltics and northern Russia. Hikers and birdwatchers. Parents who want to figure out what's growing in the backyard with their kids.
Quick answers
Is it only useful in Finland? No. Many species are common across northern Europe.
Is it free? Yes. The identification tool and species pages need no sign-up.
What languages does it support? Finnish and English, with Latin names on every species.
