Nature

During the winter solstice, the day is at its shortest. In Utsjoki, Finland’s northernmost municipality, daylight, or at least blue twilight, lasts for about two hours.

Today, 21 December, is the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. The sun has not been in the north for weeks. Even so, it is not completely dark around the clock in Utsjoki, Finland’s northernmost municipality.

In clear weather, there is some daylight between 10.30 and 13.30. In very cloudy weather, blue twilight lasts for about an hour or two.

Is the shortest day of the year also the darkest day? Not at all. It depends on the weather which day happens to be the darkest in winter. The thickness of the cloud cover, as well as the phase of the moon’s cycle, has a big influence.

Right now is the waning moon, and the New Moon is already on Friday this week. The moon does not have time to grow significantly on Christmas Day, and when viewed from the north, it is also below the horizon, so now might be a good time for the darkest day of the year.

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See what Finland’s northernmost village looked like on the eve of the shortest day of the yearRead More »

The freezing of the lakes has been slowed down this winter by an insulating layer of snow on top of the ice.

The thickness and condition of lake ice in central Finland now varies greatly.

For example, the ice thickness in Kuuhankavesi in Hankasalmi last week was 26 centimetres and in Pääjärvi in Karstula it was only 13 centimetres.

– Snow on the ice acts as an insulator and blocks frost from entering the ice. A layer of snow also pushes thin ice below the water surface and water rises to the surface,” Kemppi explains.

According to the water inspector, so-called hard ice has become more common in recent years. Hard ice is created when snow mixes with the water on the surface of the ice layer and it freezes.

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Metsähallitus put the organisation of the nature centre out to tender in the autumn. The campsite will be a partner for the next five years.

Metsäkeskus has chosen Retkipaika as a new partner for the Koli Nature Centre Uko’s service activities. Metsähallitus put the organisation of the nature centre’s operations out to tender in the autumn.

With the partnership, Uko Nature Centre’s hiking advice and customer service, shop, exhibition guiding and conference activities will move to Retkipaika. The partnership will last for five years.

For two years now, the campsite has also been responsible for similar activities at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltija in Nuuksio.

The excursion site will start operating the Koli nature center Uko during March. From the beginning, the Retkipaikka will offer the basic services of the nature center.

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Hiking site has been chosen as a new partner for the Koli Nature Centre Uko’s service activitiesRead More »

The Urban Environment Committee decided on Tuesday that the city will apply to the ELY Centre for the establishment of a new nature reserve.

Turku wants to establish a new nature reserve in the Mälikkälän forest. The city is applying to the ELY Centre of Southwest Finland for a decision under the Nature Conservation Act to establish a new nature conservation area.

The extensive, almost untouched Mälikkälänmäsä is located between Turku Länsikeskus and Kuninkoja in Raisio.

According to the city’s application, about 90 hectares of the more than 100 hectares of forest would be set aside. Fields and pastures are excluded from the delimitation.

11 resident associations in the area have made a municipal initiative on the matter in 2018.

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Turku wants to establish a new nature reserve in MälikkälänmäskäRead More »

The UN made a historic decision at its nature meeting in Montreal to protect almost a third of the planet’s land and sea. We pulled together what it all means.

A police patrol has gone to check that the wolf has left the area.

A wolf sighting was made in the centre of Jämsä on Tuesday, reports Jämsä Seutu. The police received a report of a wolf at 11 am.

According to the newspaper, the wolf was moving on the west side of the Jämsän river and near the Jokivarre kindergarten.

A police patrol has gone to check that the wolf has left the area.

Jämsän Seutu also says that late on Monday evening, the police received a report of a wolf crash in the direction of Alhojärvi.

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According to the University of Eastern Finland, the objectives of the working groups of the various ministries for the protection of the common seal should be clarified.

Coordination between Saimaa ringed seal conservation and fisheries regulations is not working as well as it could.

This is revealed in a study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland.

The working groups of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment aim to coordinate the conservation objectives of the norfolk seal.

However, the structure or operating methods of the groups do not support joint problem solving.

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Inter-ministerial cross-pollination of interests in the protection of the NorpaRead More »

The package negotiated in Montreal has been considered ambitious and successful, but there is always room for improvement. Johannes Blom, a journalist who followed the meeting on the spot, analyses the negotiations.

A quick lick and a huge round of applause. The text of the Montreal Nature Conference, worked on so late into the night, was finally adopted within seconds of the clock striking 3.34am local time.

Hopes and expectations before the meeting were higher than ever – also for the Chinese chair. China’s leadership was criticised on several occasions during the four years of preparation. Now, in Montreal, the pressure for success had mounted.

UN efforts to halt biodiversity loss have consistently failed in the past. None of the targets set in Japan in 2010 were fully met, and the loss of nature had not stopped or even slowed down by the time the calendar turned to the 2020 deadline.

Corona delayed the most important nature meeting of the decade by two years, moved negotiations to remote meetings and slowed down preparations. The delegations sitting in the hall last night knew they were holding a time bomb in their hands.

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Analysis: historic UN nature resolution sealed with a clubbing blow, but may have dealt a blow to international trustRead More »

The Food Authority is investigating the heads of moose because a moose shot in Kyyjärvi in autumn was found to have TSE brain disease.

68 headers have already been sent to the Food Authority from Central Finland and 32 from Ostrobothnia.

In Central Finland, sample collection has affected at least the Karstula-Kyyjärvi, Kannonkoski-Kivijärvi, Pylkönmäki and Saarijärvi game management associations, and in Ostrobothnia the Alajärvi, Lehtimäen-Soin and Perho game management associations.

The Food Authority is investigating animal heads after a deer shot in Kyyjärvi in autumn was found to have the rare TSE brain disease.

The moose felled in Kyyjärvi had behaved unusually.

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Already one hundred moose heads have been delivered to the Food Authority from Central Finland and Ostrobothnia – the heads are being examined for a rare brain degenerative diseaseRead More »

Poor food supplies in the sea have starved the herring. However, there were clear signs of improved herring condition in the autumn test trawls.

The condition of herring in the Bothnian Sea has improved since last year.

A research team from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) examined the status of herring and sprat stocks during its annual Baltic Sea survey at the turn of September and October.

The survey showed a clear improvement in the condition of herring, although the condition of catch-size herring has not yet returned to average levels.

The weak condition of herrings is explained by the lack of food. There was also a shortage of large herring and whitefish among the test troll catch, which are important in the diet of large herring.

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The condition of herring in the Bothnian Sea is improving – but we still have to wait for plumper herringRead More »