2.9.2023
NatureGate 15 years!
We launched the pilot version of NatureGate in Åland on June 18th, 2008. The inauguration was carried out by the Governor of Åland, Per Lindbäck. The full version was opened on September 2nd, 2008 at an international conference on sustainable development and environmental education at the Hanasaari cultural center.
Finland's national flower Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis - Jouko Lehmuskallio
Since the beginning, our website has provided information on various species groups and helped with species identification. Currently, the service has about 1600 Finnish species articles, with a large portion of them translated into seven other languages. The information is complemented by around 20,000 high-quality photographs.
Over the years, the service has become an important source of nature information for many people. It is used by, for example, nature enthusiasts of all ages, students and teachers, researchers, and journalists. In practice, anyone looking for species information will find our information because NatureGate is usually at the top of search results. Our species information is also referenced on thousands of external websites. Thanks to translations, the site serves a large number of visitors also outside Finland.
History
The NatureGate website was founded by Eija and Jouko Lehmuskallio. They got the idea for an electronic species identification already in the mid-90s. The background was a personal need to identify species more easily. The couple traveled around Finland photographing plants for the 60-part TV-1 series ‘Three Seasons’. They carried a stack of traditional plant books with them. A personal observation was that identifying species with the help of books is quite difficult. Species are usually arranged in taxonomic order in books. Finding the correct name with the help of a book is often pure guesswork for a layman.
The division of labor on field trips was clear from the beginning. Eija studied plant books, especially the Retkeilykasvio, while Jouko took photos and video of the identified species and their characteristics. Along the way, an idea for digital species identification arose, and the method was sketched on graph paper. Initially, many plant experts considered the idea completely impossible – for some reason. Eventually, Eija and Jouko were able to assemble an open-minded team with whom they created the first electronic identification tool. It was released on a CD-ROM.
From CD-ROMs to the Internet
As the 2000s approached, the idea of making it easy to identify species on the Internet emerged. The species websites of the time were often cumbersome to use. Browsing species still usually required knowing the name beforehand. The presentation style was often too scientific. LuontoPortti was founded with the idea that anyone could identify and search for species information without needing a biologist's education or in-depth interest. The service was intended to be easily accessible and attractive. Abundant illustrations and interesting species texts were one answer to this. The first species groups on the service were flowering plants, birds, and butterflies.
Symbols for species identification - Juha Lakaniemi
Currently, there are eight species groups published. Each species group has its own identification app adapted from the original idea outlined on paper. In addition to the published species groups, several other groups have already been largely photographed and partially written, waiting for final publication.
The authors were awarded the State Prize for Public Information in 2012 for the establishment of NatureGate. The service has been part of the World Design Capital Helsinki program and has received, among other things, the Finnish Quality Innovation Award in 2009.
Why is it important to know about different species?
The motive behind the project was simple from the start: the more people know about different species in nature, the more they will appreciate it. When the unnecessary stigma around scientific knowledge is removed and the user realizes they can identify birds based on a few key characteristics, it sparks a desire to learn more.
The Common Tern can be identified, for example, by these characteristics – photo by Jari Peltomäki.
Identification based on personal activity is rewarding and educational in our opinion. Species no longer resemble each other, but even small differences can be found between them. Identifying species is particularly important right now as the environment is undergoing significant changes. New species appear and old ones spread to new areas, or even disappear entirely.
Many things can change in 15 years. When the service was established, for example, social media was just developing. However, the need for researched natural knowledge is permanent. Even in the future, human learning will be strongly based on personal activity - perhaps even a little bit of hard work.
This is one reason why we have so far refrained from adding image-based identification to our service. We have been asked in numerous meetings: ‘Why don't you do image-based identification?’ Of course, we have studied the topic, for example through a prototype made as a thesis a few years ago. The background material verified by LuontoPortti, such as descriptions, identification information and our extensive image archive of species at different ages and habitats, enable effective training of artificial intelligence and automatic identification of species.
Touch-me-not Balsam can be identified from a group of 800 other plants by these few characteristics - photo Jouko Lehmuskallio.
In the future, this function will surely be a part of the service. AI-assisted species identification and real-time monitoring of their distributions based on user observations, will benefit many environmental research fields.
However, we do not want to promote ready-made, bite-sized information. Instead, we invite everyone to practice their own environmental literacy - the ability to observe and understand the details found in nature. Its importance will not diminish, no matter what leaps technology takes over the next 15 years!
The creators of the service
The founders of the service, Eija and Jouko Lehmuskallio, met each other through work. They both have a long background in communication and media. Eija's background is in radio and Jouko's is in Yle's TV department. After his time at Yle, he produced numerous documentary films for Yleisradio and Kolmoskanava through his own companies. These include quiz shows, comedy programs, nature documentaries, and political programs.
After getting together, the couple traveled all over the world for various documentary productions. Early on, their shared interest in natural science began to show in their ideas and works. For Yle, they produced a 60-part TV series on natural plants called ‘Three Seasons’ and a 100-episode series called ‘What a Wonderfull Flower’, with Jouko as the cameraman and Eija as the director. Mushrooms also had their own series.
On the political side, it's worth mentioning a follow-up documentary on Esko Aho's government during the 90s recession and ‘Minister,’ a documentary about the then-Minister of Justice Hannele Pokka.
Today, Eija leads the operation of LuontoPortti and Jouko serves as the service's main photographer and editor. Jouko has taken most of the photographs on Luontoportti.
Juha Lakaniemi has also been involved with LuontoPortti from the beginning. He initially studied AV production, and his first job was editing the mentioned ‘Three Seasons’ series for TV-1. Later on, he became interested in photography, image editing, and digital design. When NatureGate was founded, Juha joined the project and designed the service structure and directed the production of identification apps. Juha's contribution is visible to thousands of NatureGate visitors every day, starting with the logo.
Logo re-design drafts 2014 – Juha Lakaniemi
During the establishment phase of the service, the University of Helsinki and the Department of Applied Sciences in Education were strongly involved. The university collaboration was led by Professor Emeritus Mauri Åhlberg who, among other things, supervised several theses related to LuontoPortti. Since the establishment, Mauri has been a spokesperson for NatureGate and promoted the activity in many ways.
During the growth phase of the service, important members of the team were Markus Lakaniemi and Sanna Matintupa. Their contribution to content management and editing enabled the service to quickly expand into different species groups.
Species experts and photographers
In each published species group, in addition to the mentioned core team, there have been experts from various fields ensuring the accuracy of the information. Content and expert cooperation has been carried out, among others, with the Finnish Environment Institute, BirdLife Finland, and numerous other nature-related organizations and individuals.
Short-tailed Blue, Cupido argiades – Per-Olof Wickman
Notable experts include the following: bird expert Jan Södersved from BirdLife Finland, plant researcher and Senior Curator of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Henry Väre, mammal identification expert Professor Patrick Dillon from Exeter University, fish identification tool designer and species presenter Mikko Saarela (also known as a member and songwriter of the band Eppu Normaali), fish expert and photographer Lauri Urho from Luke. FM Peter Kullberg is an expert on trees and shrubs, and Jan-Erik Bruun from the Finnish Environment Institute is an expert on underwater species in the Baltic Sea. Jan-Erik is also responsible for the site's excellent bird recordings. Tiina Typpi wrote her thesis on fungi at the University of Helsinki. Lasse Kosonen and Jarkko Korhonen have also acted as fungal experts and photo editors. Emeritus Professor Per-Olof Wickman from Stockholm University is our butterfly expert. He has also taken the majority of the site's butterfly photos and answered hundreds of reader questions. Emeritus Curator Markku A. Huttunen from the University of Eastern Finland has also answered numerous insect questions sent in by visitors.
Most of the images in the service come from Jouko Lehmuskallion's own archive. His photos can be found in every species group. In addition to our own archive, the extensive imagery on NatureGate is made possible by acquiring usage rights from dozens of other photographers, researchers, and enthusiasts. In addition to the aforementioned experts, special mention should be made of bird photographer Jari Peltomäki. Numerous stunning bird photos have also been contributed by Mervi Wahlroos. The mammal illustrations for NatureGate were created by artist Priscilla Trenchard.
Wolf, Canis lupus – Priscilla Trenchard
A couple of years ago, Huld.io carried out a technical overhaul of the service. The entire massive amount of content accumulated over the years was transferred to a new platform. As expected, the work was not a walk in the park, but the project went smoothly thanks to the Huld team's expertise. Their professionalism can be recommended without reservation.
Many deserving parties are not mentioned here, but you can find a comprehensive list of those who made LuontoPortti possible on this page: https://luontoportti.com/en/info. In addition, the names of dozens of individual image contributors can be found in the species articles alongside the images.
Our other works
Wild herbs walk at Töölönlahti Helsinki – Juha Lakaniemi
Over the past 15 years, we have, for example, with the help of our experts, answered thousands of nature-related questions, trained a large group of wild herb enthusiasts both in the field and online, and carried out various nature-related books and events. It has been wonderful to see how the public's interest in nature only continues to grow. It is a privilege to make nature accessible to all who are interested.
Thank you
NatureGate started as an idea sketched on graph paper by two people on a photography trip, but it has grown larger than we ever imagined. It has partly achieved its goal of being an established source of knowledge about nature. But only partly – we still have many ideas in our back pocket.
NatureGate can be expanded to any area. The need for researched and condensed information will not disappear, quite the opposite. As the climate changes and resources diminish, understanding and using nature in a sustainable way will become increasingly important.
Pikku-Malla – Jouko Lehmuskallio
When we started, talking about biodiversity was not as common as it is today. Many visionary individuals and companies have supported us from the beginning of our journey. They saw early on the value that LuontoPortti produces daily for the smallest schoolchildren, ordinary citizens, and nature researchers.
Thank you to all of you.
Thanks to those who have participated in the production and technical implementation of the service over the years. Our beloved translators.
And above all:
LuontoPortti users. This service has been built for you, without counting the hours, regardless of the difficulties encountered on the journey. From this, we will continue with you towards the future. Thank you!
LuontoPortti staff
Awards
– State Award for Public Information in 2012 and 1996
– Edelcrantz Foundation's Innovation Award 2013
– Honorable mention by IUCN and UNESCO in the global competition in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. NatureGate was among the top 10 out of thousands of candidates.
– Femme de la terre - Yves Rocher Award 2010
– Membership of The Linnéan Society of London Fellows
– Finnish Quality Innovation Award 2009