Background One of the main threats to natural habitats in Finland is the drastic change in forests caused by modern forestry management practices. According to the Finnish assessment of the conservation status of the habitats of the Habitats Directive, 70% of forest habitat types are threatened. Most of the herb-rich forest habitat types were evaluated as threatened, with the most critically threatened types being the herb-rich forests with different broad-leaved trees. Many of the threatened species in Finland (37%) are primarily associated with forest habitats, particularly herb-rich woodland and old-growth forest habitats. The herb-rich forests are main habitats for over 20% of the nationally threatened species, although their proportion of the forest area in Finland is only 1%. Another threat to Finnish habitats and species comes from the intensification of agriculture and the abandonment of production in less productive areas. (These factors have led to the loss of ecologically valuable traditional agricultural biotopes shaped by earlier farming practices). According to the national assessment of threatened habitat types in Finland, the proportion of threatened habitat types is by far greatest among traditional rural biotopes (93%). Some 28% of the threatened species typically live in traditional farmland habitats Due to abandonment, these species-rich habitats have widely become overgrown and many of their characteristic species are now seriously threatened. Today, there are some 40 000 ha of valuable semi-natural biotopes left, of which 30 000 ha are managed to maintain their biological value. However, the present coverage of semi-natural grasslands is far from sufficient to guarantee adequate conservation status. Objectives The overall objective of the “Species-rich LIFE” project is to improve the conservation status of 19 Annex I-listed habitats of the Habitats Directive whose overall conservation status in the boreal biogeographic region of Finland was assessed as ‘unfavourable-bad’ or ‘unfavourable inadequate’ in the Finnish country report on Habitats Directive Article 17 Reporting (period 2001-06). Target habitats for restoration and management measures of the project include several priority habitats: coastal meadows, various dry meadow and grassland types (and western taiga and deciduous forest types. Moreover, other Natura 2000 habitats are also targeted, i.e. heaths and scrubs, grasslands, bogs and fens, calcareous rocks (and western taiga and deciduous forest types). Furthermore, several Birds Directive or Habitats Directive species found in these habitats will be concurrently targeted by project actions. In total, the 59 Natura 2000 areas included in the project cover 466 951 ha. Concrete conservation actions will be carried out on 936 ha, restoration action planning covers 678 ha and management planning 4 167 ha. Expected results: A species inventory will be conducted in 28 project sites. This will mainly focus on poorly known taxa (e.g. Fungi, Coleoptera, Polypores, Mollusca) and on the sites where existing information indicates probable occurrence of Birds or Habitat Directive species or other threatened species; A cultural heritage site inventory will be conducted in 33 project sites. This will increase understanding of how the characteristics of the biotopes have been influenced by early land-use; Information from these inventories will be used in the preparation of a detailed restoration action plan for carrying out concrete conservation actions at 38 restoration sites covering 678 ha (during the planning process the restoration actions will be prioritized at the landscape level.