Guerrilla Tactics
Interview with Villi vyöhyke
Essi Kupari from Villi vyöhyke discusses how civic action can play a direct role in combating invasive species and promoting biodiversity. The interview is part of Grassroots City, an art and research project in which we explored how local communities are adapting to a changing climate.
How did Villi vyöhyke start, and how did you get involved?
Villi vyöhyke is a nature conservation association founded in Tampere in the early 2010s, when a group of activists began practising voluntary guerrilla gardening in the city’s parks. These early initiatives challenged conventional approaches to urban green planning. Eventually, the City of Tampere signed an agreement with Villi vyöhyke, assigning the association responsibility for managing and maintaining certain park areas. This collaboration later developed into a formally registered association in 2013. Today, responsibility for the maintenance of these green areas has been transferred to the city’s own organisations.
I became involved after realising how unique and rich urban nature can be. Today, Villi vyöhyke is a pioneer in strengthening urban biodiversity, managing wastelands, ecological restoration, and participatory conservation. Our work is both experimental and practical. To date, the association has carried out more than 200 projects, ranging from small urban meadows to large-scale forest restoration and the ecological landscaping of former industrial areas.
What are your operating models?
Villi vyöhyke is a small but active association: 25 members, about ten of whom work regularly. The core of our activities is seed-based nature conservation. We do fieldwork and exert political influence to include a stronger perspective on species enrichment in landscape design. Our goal is to increase biodiversity. It complements traditional nature conservation, which focuses on preserving already identified natural values.
The work often begins with archival research. Key sources include, for example, the publications Talvikki and Lutukka of the Tampereen kasvitieteellinen yhdistys (Tampere Botanical Society). After this, we move into the field, often together with local nature enthusiasts. The trips are scheduled for mid-May, when seed collection is possible. Snow dumps, wastelands and industrial areas are often the best places to find them.
We have been involved in several projects, such as the EU’s In Nature project and the Tampere City Blues stormwater project. In Turku, we participated in the Kupittaa railway project, where we spent weeks touring wastelands collecting seeds.
We have also done guerrilla farming on construction sites, for example in the Pyynikki hospital area. Many meadows have disappeared over the years, but we have been involved in developing new sites, such as the Hiedanranta enrichment meadow. We have also landscaped gravel pits in cooperation with NCC and Rudus, aiming to create more diverse environments than just pine cultivation.
What kind of knowledge do you have about local nature? How does climate change affect your activities?
Over the years, we have collected a wealth of local knowledge and a deep understanding of local nature. Often, a project starts with an insight: we notice that an area contains something valuable that needs protection.
In the countryside, we map the edges of roads and fields. Pastures used to maintain diversity, but modern agriculture has changed the landscape and lost many of the species associated with it. We are particularly interested in weeds and old ancestral grasses, which are part of the disappearing cultural nature.
The archives also reveal changes in plant species: since the 1980s and 1990s, many previously common species have disappeared. Insect loss is clearly visible, and southern species are spreading further and further north. Over the past three decades, the species diversity has been significantly depleted. In addition, there are almost no natural forest fires in Finland anymore, which previously enriched biodiversity and created fertile soil.
How does the association collect and share information?
We collect information in the field and invite volunteers to report seed and species observations. In guerrilla farming, it is important that the activities do not depend on individual events, but that local communities continue to maintain and care for the long term.
Transferring information is a challenge. There is also a risk that a lot of information will be lost, as many experts from the Tampere Botanical Society are retiring. Fortunately, the laji.fi website collects information about species nationwide. We are also updating our own species catalogue on the Villi vyöhyke website so that the information is easily accessible and concrete.
In Tampere, people have a sad tradition of cutting down trees on their own. Therefore, sharing information about the harmfulness of such activities is an important part of our work.
What opportunities do you see for working together with designers?
Landscaping often involves bureaucracy. For example, in industrial areas, the height of vegetation is strictly regulated, and Museovirasto (the Finnish National Board of Antiquities) has its own regulations. It is difficult for the city to convey why maintenance is important unless the information is presented expertly and directed to the right people.
One of the biggest problems is that nature studies are often not used in zoning. The plant selections of landscape architecture firms are often traditional – focusing on foreign species and the standard selection of shops. New residential areas also show an excessive amount of asphalt. We need more water-permeable and natural solutions.
It is important that cooperation with Villi vyöhyke begins at the early stages of planning. Too often, vegetation is only considered when the land has already been ploughed.