Nature

According to the researchers, the Inari community forest is a rare entity, even by international standards. The forest, owned by private landowners, is only partially protected.

The sides of old trees are surrounded by tortoiseshell bark. The forest is so old that it is too old even to be counted in your own time. According to scientists, it has been standing in its place since the Ice Age. By the standards of Finland and the world, the Inari community forest is a rare place.

It is still only partially protected.

Thousands of species sightings

If the land were not covered by a mantle, you would see here and there the decaying wood, the famous diversity of forests and the carbon that has crystallised in the ground over time.

And dwarves, covering the snow and the snow with the trunks of the evergreens would be a lot.

…

Inari has a forest whose uniqueness outstrips many existing nature reserves – yet the state refuses to protect itRead More »

Global warming caused severe snowstorms that made it impossible for many bird species to nest, according to researchers.

The land of Queen Maud in Antarctica is home to some of the most important nesting sites for many seabirds. A year ago, the Christmas-January breeding season in the area was a complete failure, reports the scientific journal Current Biology.

Queen Maud’s Land has two breeding areas, Svarthamaren and Jutulsessen, which are the most important breeding sites for the Antarctic Antarctic heron, fulmar and snow Petrel.

Normally, they have up to hundreds of thousands of ice storm petrel nests and 2 000 snow storm petrel nests and several hundred gudgeon nests.

In the 2021–22 breeding season, the researchers found a total of only three ice storm petrel nests and a few snow storm petrel nests, and no harrier nests.

…

Bird nesting in Antarctica’s main breeding areas a complete failure – previously hundreds of thousands of nests, now threeRead More »

We listed some sure signs of spring.

In the northern hemisphere, Finland too, the traditional interpretation is that spring begins today.

On the spring equinox, the sun is directly above the equator. Spring begins north of the equator and autumn south of the equator.

This year’s vernal equinox will be tonight at 23.24 Finnish time. After the vernal equinox, daylight hours in Finland will increase by about 5-10 minutes per day until the end of June, when the day will start to shorten again.

The first widow leaves in Siuntio and Paimio have already been announced for the Spring monitoring campaign of the Finnish National Nature Association and the Central Natural History Museum. Movements of ants have been reported from Nurmijärvi, and from Parais, both the seven-spotted pirk and the mosquito. These announcements are made by enthusiastic citizens and are not verified.

…

Spring is here! The first widow’s leaves, ants and sparrows have already been spotted in southernmost FinlandRead More »

Metsähallitus is carrying out extensive renovation and renewal of the Ruunaa camping area near the eastern border. Special attention will be paid to accessibility on the off-road routes. The construction work will last from next summer until the end of 2025.

Hikers will enjoy numerous improvements at Lieksan Ruunaa in the coming years.

Metsähallitus has received €800 000 to improve the terrain and fishing structures and signage in Ruunaa.

An accessible path, jetties and fireplaces will be restored at Neitikoski. At Siikakoski, a new fishing pier, an accessible fireplace and a toilet will be built. A 150-metre accessible path will be built to the Pike Quay.

According to Kekkonen, accessibility is important not only for people with reduced mobility, but also for special groups, families with children and the aging population.

…

Ruunaa camping area in Lieksa to be improved with almost a million eurosRead More »

Human activity has disrupted the water cycle, and climate change is exacerbating the problem.

This week, the United Nations is holding a conference on the global water crisis, which has received little attention within the organisation. There is no international agreement on the use of water resources and no dedicated agency within the UN. The last high-level UN meeting on the issue was held in 1997 in Argentina.

Drinkable water is unevenly distributed across the planet. In countries like Finland, water is plentiful, but in many countries water is scarce and available water resources are contaminated. The conference has been convened by the Netherlands and Tajikistan.

According to Ovink, humans have disrupted the planet’s natural water cycle.

– We take too much water from the soil and pollute the water that is left, says Ovink.

…

UN holds first conference on the water crisis in decadesRead More »

The North Karelia Ornithological Society states in its award citation that many wild birds have been rehabilitated to a state of freedom under the care of entrepreneur Emilia Erola.

The Juuka-based animal services company Pikkusiipi has been awarded the 2022 Positive Bird Action of the Year. The award was granted by the Ornithological Society of North Karelia.

Many wild birds have received expert care at Erola over the past couple of years and many birds have been rehabilitated for release.

The need for bird care in North Karelia has been pressing since a few volunteers quit, according to a press release from the Bird Association.

The positive bird act of the year recognition of the Ornithological Association of North Karelia was awarded for the 11th time.

…

Juuka-based animal service company Pikkusiipi was awarded as the positive bird act of the yearRead More »

The march proceeded from the main library to Keskustor. After the march, those who wanted to could go to the Old Church to listen to a lecture by environmental organisations on the parliamentary elections.

Hundreds of people gathered in Hämeenpuisto in Tampere to march for nature. The march started at the main library and continued to Keskustor.

– Biodiversity loss is a huge problem that threatens the future of us all,” says Tikkanen.

– I think that if we don’t have nature and climate, then other issues don’t matter,” says Salmijärvi.

Even the drizzle did not affect the mood of the marchers.

…

Hundreds of people marched for nature in Tampere – the grey weather did not dampen the mood: “I would march here even in the sleet”Read More »

Spring is just around the corner, despite the little frosts and occasional snowfalls. In the world of birds, the real spring migration rush is around the end of April.

The spring migration of birds is still in its early stages.

According to Birdlife Finland’s bird situation update, strong southerly winds early in the week blew Lapwings, Red-winged Teal and other early spring migrants to Finland. Species new to spring were recorded as Lesser Swan, Tundra Goose, White-fronted Goose, Common Egret, Common Egret, Common Lark, Common Gadwall and Lapwing.

The bird information service Tiira reveals that a flock of young birds was already spotted in Naantali on Saturday.

As expected, the largest numbers of migrants have been observed in the most southwestern part of Finland: Almost 500 larks and about 200 homing pigeons were seen at most in Masku. The fastest larks and bump jumps have been recorded in Satakunta and Päijät-Häme.

…

Spring migration of birds is still in the starting blocks – new migratory species are being sighted dailyRead More »

The US administration approved an oil drilling project on federal territory, despite the President’s campaign promises to the contrary. Environmental activists in Somme have taken the project to task.

The Willow project is a $7 billion oil and gas exploration and production project in Alaska, USA, in an area owned by the federal government.

Now that the Willow project has been given the green light, construction of the oil fields can begin. In practice, however, the start may be delayed due to the likelihood of several lawsuits.

The oil drilling project has attracted international attention on social media and this week the topic has also been on the list of the most trending Google searches in Finland.

– As an individual project, the Willow project will not massively increase oil production, but the message to the world is bad. Climate change and loss of nature are progressing all the time, and the direction should be reversed now. The message is very sad – especially when it comes from a Democratic president who returned the United States to the Paris climate agreement, says Räsänen.

…

This is the Willow project that attracted attention in Tiktok – Expert: Emissions on a par with Finland’s transport emissions per yearRead More »

Most of the lake salmon fry do not survive the lake migration, even though fishing restrictions have been tightened. For the first time, the effectiveness of the measures will be monitored by performance indicators.

In recent years, significant sums have been spent on measures to conserve lake salmon stocks and on research, and fishing restrictions have been tightened. Despite this, the vast majority of fry do not survive the lake migration, according to a press release from the Environment Agency.

The status of lake salmon has not been monitored with indicators before. Results to date suggest that lake salmon are on the verge of extinction unless there are rapid changes in salmon management and stocking practices. More resources are also needed.

The indicators will monitor, among other things, salmon reproduction, survival of fry and the effectiveness of the measures. In North Karelia, the aim is to stock 100 000 salmon fry annually in the Pielisjoki and 60 000 in the Lieksanjoki.