Stora Enso CEO Hans Sohlström described the environmental damage in Suomussalmi's Hukkajoki River as "really bad" after thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels (raakku) died due to logging machinery crossing the river repeatedly including 30 from Stora Enso and the rest from Metsähallitus Stora Enso halted logging at environmentally sensitive sites across Finland These suspensions will remain in place until logging plans and risk assessments are reviewed The company has also initiated new environmental training for all involved in wood procurement focusing on better compliance with environmental guidelines The Hukkajoki incident involved over 400 river crossings by logging machines Despite being Stora Enso’s project with a contractor hired by the company a violation of the recommended 50-meter buffer zone around the river appears to have occurred The area involved was not certified under any sustainable forest management system although Stora Enso had agreed with the landowner to follow PEFC certification standards Stora Enso pledged to take full responsibility for the damages although the financial costs remain undetermined the company launched a review of its logging processes with both internal and external experts to prevent future incidents Sohlström expressed hope that Hukkajoki was an isolated case The Finnish police are investigating the case as a severe environmental crime, while Stora Enso is conducting its internal investigation to determine what went wrong. Meanwhile, the company has committed to supporting the ongoing restoration efforts at Hukkajoki and is participating in the Life Revives mussel protection program alongside Metsähallitus though specific financial contributions have not been disclosed Republication of Lesprom Network content is prohibited without the prior written consent of Lesprom Network General Terms and Conditions and Privacy policy Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker HELSINKI FINLAND JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 58 Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen (NCP) met members of the public in conjunction with the party’s summer meeting in Rovaniemi on 20 August 2024 Mykkänen on Friday told Helsingin Sanomat that Stora Enso alone is responsible for compensating for the damage caused by a forest machine to a concentration of freshwater pearl mussels in Suomussalmi THERE should be no question over who should compensate for the environmental damage caused by a logging operation undertaken in Suomussalmi according to Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen (NCP) Mykkänen on Friday stated to Helsingin Sanomat that Stora Enso as the commissioner and executor of the operation must compensate fully for both the damage and the costs of the clean-up and rehabilitation efforts that are underway at the site Employees of Metsähallitus have spent recent days near the logging site carrying buckets of freshwater pearl mussels upstream in Hukkajoki River The mussels were suffocating because the river had silted up due to a forest machine serving the logging site crossing it as many as 300 times according to estimates based on the volume of wood harvested from the site The river had prior to the incident housed one of the ten largest concentrations of the endangered species in Finland Police are investigating the incident as aggravated nature conservation offence. If the pre-trial investigation produces evidence that the act was intentional, the perpetrators could be liable for millions of euros in compensation for the dead mussels, reported YLE Stora Enso was aware of the freshwater pearl mussel population in the river and had received clear instructions from authorities for how not to disturb the habitat, reveals an e-mail seen by Helsingin Sanomat Mykkänen on Friday stated that Stora Enso and its subcontractor are understandably continuing to negotiate how to share responsibility for the damage has no intention whatsoever to participate in sharing the costs of the clean-up “When you’ve operated so clearly and flagrantly against clear instructions we can’t be talking about something that’s paid for with scarce public funds,” he emphasised to the daily With thousands of freshwater pearl mussels believed to be dead and the riverbed gravel – key for the survival of baby mussels – clogged with sand and slush for hundreds of metres downstream from the trail of the forest machine Mykkänen admitted that most of the damage cannot be undone should consider compensating for the damage by investing in protecting the species also in other parts of Finland Freshwater pearl mussels inhabit an estimated 140–150 rivers in Finland provide the species with a habitat that enables it to breed properly Mykkänen also called on the forest industry more broadly to commit to designating a safe zone of 50 metres along rivers with the mussels to both prevent sand and slush from trickling from the logging site to the river and to help the mussels by preserving the shadows provided by nearby trees A correction was made at 11:32am on 26 August: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that the incident is investigated as aggravated environmental offence The incident is investigated as aggravated nature conservation offence Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy Over one thousand figures stand silently in a field near the road, colorful clothing billowing around their still bodies, faceless heads all facing the same direction. On Highway 5 outside of Suomussalmi, Finland, motorists who come upon the scarecrows unaware find the sight either glee-inducing or terrifying. The figures are made up of peat heads covered in straw hair and simple wooden bodies draped with colorful clothing that is changed twice a year. The immobile army seems to stand watch over the road, but despite their stationary appearance, they haven't always stood here in this lonely field off of the highway. The work of artist Reijo Kela, the Silent People once stood in a field in a town near Helsinki named Lassila, and in 1994 were in the populated Market Place of Helsinki's Senate Square. After a stint on the banks of the Jalonuoma river, they made their way here to Highway 5, eliciting questions and curiosity to all who pass.  The truth is, the meaning of the art installation is a mystery. The artist refuses to give any sort of explanation for the figures, preferring the viewer use their own perception to define it. Many find the scarecrows sad or disturbing, evoking a forgotten people, and a popular theory is that they represent those lost during a brutal battle that took place nearby during the Winter War of 1939-1940 between the Finns and Soviet Russia. 30 km North on Highway 5 (E63) from the Suomussalmi Center. This larger-than-life lime green gummy bear sits in the middle of a roundabout in Spain. Iconic figures in concrete and steel in the High Plains of Texas. A unique attraction and museum dedicated to exploring iconic roadside structures. A massive metal lobster welcomes tourists to a roadside restaurant. A giant fiberglass catfish welcomes visitors to this Wisconsin river town and heralds its annual Catfish Days festival. On the side of Highway 50 East, between Carson City and Dayton, Nevada, sits a giant metal spider made from a vintage Volkswagen Beetle. A gorilla holding a VW Beetle isn't what you'd expect in rural Vermont. Open image viewerThe site at Suomussalmi in Kainuu where a Stora Enso logging machine is believed to have driven over a critical habitat for freshwater pearl mussels Image: Timo Valtteri Sihvonen / YleYle News26.8.2024 16:09•Updated 26.8.2024 16:11Swedish-Finnish forestry firm Stora Enso has announced the suspension of logging activities in areas around Finland which are subject to restrictions under the Water Act The move comes in the wake of reports last week that a logging machine belonging to the company repeatedly drove over a critical habitat for freshwater pearl mussels at Hukkajoki River in Suomussalmi killing thousands of the extremely endangered animals A company statement released on Monday said logging would be suspended until "the operational guidelines harvesting plans and risks related to these sites have been reassessed" said the suspension applies to a few dozen sites but the firm has not specified the sites or revealed how long its suspension of logging operations will last Peura told Yle that Stora Enso carries out an estimated 20,000 logging operations every year so the decision to suspend activity at a few dozen sites is unlikely to have a huge bearing on the company's overall operations Stora Enso also said it would begin offering additional training to its employees contractors and subcontractors on environmental policy and guidelines The training will focus on compliance with environmental guidelines The company also said it had launched its own internal inquiry into the "environmental violation" that occurred at the Suomussalmi site "It is important that the negligence at Hukkajoki river in Kainuu came to light Even the best rule and the most important principle is worthless if it is not applied in practice We have already initiated a number of changes to ensure that nothing like this can happen again," Stora Enso president and CEO Hans Sohlström said Finland's Environment Minister Kai Mykkänen (NCP) told Yle on Friday that he discussed the damage at the Suomussalmi site with Stora Enso CEO Sohlström saying that the firm will pay the bill for the damage it caused "Thank you to the volunteers and the experts and employees of Metsähallitus' nature services for the work done at the site but the responsibility for paying for this does not belong to the taxpayers this conflict does have some excellent lessons for thinking about future war but let us not call it something it was not Perhaps we could learn from the Finns often-excellent unit cohesion and their ability quickly to adapt on the fly and how that enabled them to resist for far longer than even they had thought possible Nicholas Murray teaches in the department of Strategy and Policy at the Naval War College The views voiced here are his own and do not represent those of the Naval War College Signing up for this newsletter means you agree to our data policy We recognise our responsibility to use data and technology for good We may use or share your data with our data vendors The Weather Channel is the world's most accurate forecaster according to ForecastWatch, Global and Regional Weather Forecast Accuracy Overview Finland and Russia share more than 800 miles of land border plus the archipelago sea in the Baltic region with tens of thousands of small islands neutrality has been part of Finland’s security policy but now it seems certain to apply for Nato membership we look at the places and people who have a special relationship with their Russian neighbour runs through a slalom consisting of two orange pylons with his pistol drawn he kneels behind a construction of two pallets aims through a gap and hits the target more than eight meters away two women and six men watch as Kettunen moves They have all volunteered to take part in reserve exercises the trainer and chairman of the reserve association is seeing some of them today for the first time In a patch of forest about an hour away from Helsinki weekly shooting exercises are held with four different types of weapons the reservist association in Vantaa has received more than 400 new members; at the beginning of the year the entire association counted about 1,000 members the coach and chairman of the Vantaa Reservists Association On 18 May 2022, Finland submitted its Nato application – a decision Kettunen has been awaiting for a long time Although there was only about 20% support for Nato membership before Russia’s aggression Kettunen does not know a single person who would oppose membership Shortly after the end of the war in Kosovo “You could say the mass graves were still warm when we arrived Only alliances like Nato can ensure peace in the long run.” So says Kettunen when asked about Finland’s imminent accession to Nato From late April to mid-May we – the Finnish photographer Jonathan Terlinden and German photographer Patrick Junker – travelled through Finland to visit people and places to better understand the history between Finland and Russia A large part of the island has been a Unesco world heritage Site since 1991 The first stop on our journey took us to Suomenlinna fortress Its construction was started in 1748 and became necessary when the Russian tsar Peter the Great tried to assert Russia as a naval power by founding St Petersburg and the then Swedish province of Finland became the Grand Duchy of Finland a year later and thus part of Russia She is living with two friends in a hostel that has been converted into a refugee shelter and has supported the Ukrainian army with her family since 2014 But as the fighting drew closer and closer to the city is completing his military service and has come home for the weekend “We have always lived here on the Russian border he spends his Friday evening in the car with his friends tsar Alexander II granted the Finns extensive autonomy The Finnish language was promoted to weaken the influence of the Swedes and anchor the Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire But the desire for Finnish independence grew A bloody civil war between the Whites led by the conservative Finnish senate fought against the Red socialists ensued Almost 30,000 people died in connection with the Finnish civil war Helena Seppänen is waiting to watch the bears She lives right on the Finnish-Russian border I would think differently today,” says Helena Seppänen a town 450 miles north of Helsinki and a walk from the Russian border the rugged lake landscape ice is still strong enough to carry cross-country skiers and ice fishers A few weeks ago they woke up from hibernation He is the baby on his father’s arm and one year old at the time She watched the first Russian soldiers cross the border on 30 November 1939 She took her three children and ran 6 miles to warn the villages and soldiers on the other side of the river It was the beginning of the winter war and consolidated the national identity of the Finns are many parallels to the situation in Ukraine today Russian security interests served as a pretext for attacking a militarily hopelessly inferior nation But the Finns were able to resist the overwhelming enemy in the impassable terrain and deep winter They actually believed that they would free the Finnish people from the yoke of the landowners and capitalists But the opposite was the case: the enemy’s attack and the first victories of their own military made the camps which had been hostile to each other from the civil war Through the “spirit of the winter war” Finland gained international prestige and internal strength yet Finland had to cede territory to the Soviet Union Although the country fought alongside Germany in the continuation war from 1941 it remained independent and free of alliances after the second world war The Russian memorial on Raate Museum Road was erected on 19 September 1994 The statue’s base bears the text in Russian and Finnish: “To the sons of the fatherland – mourning Russia” There has always been a lot of talk about the war in Finland Especially since we have such an unpredictable neighbourVeli Merentie 98“When Putin threatened Finland and said we shouldn’t join the Nato we should join the Nato,” says Veli Merentie “He has nothing to say about what we Finns should do.” Merentie himself took part in the continuation war and two of his brothers died in the winter war It has always been the border between the west and east is doing his military service in the tank brigade and his great-grandfathers have already fought in the winter war and continuation war “Russia already sees us as an enemy since we joined the EU they just haven’t attacked yet,” says Paavo Terä as we met him at the Arrow 22 military exercise Finland has retained its military service even after joining the EU The Finnish armed forces have a standing strength of 34,700 and about 900,000 reservists The armed forces regularly participate in various international exercises the Finnish army was visited by forces from the UK and Estonia to practice cooperation in the framework of Exercise Arrow 22 On the day we and more than 40 other media visited the Arrow 22 military exercise a Russian military helicopter violated Finnish airspace a Russian army transport aircraft briefly entered Finnish airspace property is being expropriated from Russian oligarchs Finns have become more aware that Russian oligarchs have suspect properties in Finland in recent years Large apartment buildings and villas in strategically essential locations have attracted much media attention has also spent his whole life close to the Russian border The retired teacher is involved in many associations and his father fought in the battle for Suomussalmi in the winter war all that matters to him is that peace is kept “The war in Ukraine shows that the Russian government can make absurd decisions A Finnish Nato membership probably won’t make them start thinking rationally.” BUFFALO CITY – A group of 30 "silent" figures stand tall facing Buffalo Road every day in rural Baxter County they appear to be scarecrows off AR Highway 126 jackets — and on one occasion — Razorback apparel Many who drive by may wonder about the existence of the figures or their origin but few know that "the quiet people of Buffalo City" are the work of Laura Chandler inspired by a program she saw on television about Finland "It was on the Travel Channel and it was on Norway and Finland and Sweden They kept alluding to don't leave Finland without seeing 'the quiet people.' The guy finally goes and he's just blown away by all these it just looked like you could see forever," Chandler recalls standing among her "quiet people" on Friday Chandler calls them "the quiet people," but in Finland the figures are also known as "the silent people." Quiet or silent the figures have brought many curious people to ask questions about their purpose in other countries to create their own versions of "silent people." "It just intrigued me and I thought that was the coolest thing so wouldn't that be fun?'" Chandler explained "The silent people" appeared originally near Suomussalmi but they were unveiled publicly in 1988 by a man named Reijo Kela a freelance dancer and choreographer born in Suomussalmi according to a tourism website for the city The website for Suomussalmi says Kela's "silent people" were first presented in a place called Lassila's Field and later in 1994 at Helsinki's Senaatintori Market Place "The silent people" in Finland — a field of almost a thousand figures — have peat-heads similar to Chandler's version of the beings the website remarks "the silent people" would merely be a thousand standing wooden crosses The Suomussalmi website reports that "the silent people" officially moved to their present home during the fall of 1994 in a rural area and receive maintenance at least twice a year They are "made and clothed" by the Suomussalmi Youth Workshop Other photos taken during the winter show them covered in snow Yet the major question lingers: Why were they created apparently "refuses to provide any answer," and visitors may draw from their own imagination "I've had people ask questions down below and here," Chandler said recalling some of their questions in Buffalo City Others project their imagination to her own version of the "quiet people." It can be a spiritual experience it can be art — and even to others — it may appear to be an act of voodoo If there is anything "the quiet people" are not Chandler says they are not there to be "hateful." but we're very narrow minded in this community This was just a way of jumping that and saying .. Everybody should be accepted for who they are and what they believe and it doesn't have to be monolithic," Chandler explained articulating her reasoning behind the figures While Chandler purchases clothes for most of the "quiet people" from the Salvation Army Some wear clothes of people who have passed away at the request of family members who reach out to her "A lady from Gassville City Hall called me one day and she said 'Can you tell me about those things in your yard?' I was telling her and she started laughing but her mother had recently died and she said 'My mother would have loved this.' She said 'Could you take something of my mother's?' and I said 'Of course,' " Chandler explained "the quiet people" has grown to include 30 figures Chandler says she has done most of the work but she has received some help from her daughter maintaining them and setting up pallets on the ground so they can stand Chandler says she hopes to have a hundred in the future An eerie art installation located in a barren field in the Finnish countryside recently went viral after someone accidentally stumbled upon it while searching on Google Maps With quarantine and isolation measures still in place in many countries around the world people are spending a lot of time online looking for cool places to visit once they can travel again Many a re using free tools like Google Maps and end going deeper down the rabbit hole than they originally anticipated That’s probably how some people recently discovered The Silent People a creepy-looking art installation that left them scratching their heads about why anyone would fill a field with hundreds of scarecrows and dress them as real people Photo: Timo Newton-Syms The Silent People installation looks like a perfectly still army of people all facing the same way It’s only when you take a closer look that you realize it’s made up of wooden frames covered in human clothes and heads made of pear which does a surprisingly good job of emulating human hair Even knowing that it’s an art installation you still feel uneasy looking at the almost one thousand still figures but knowing absolutely nothing about it and sudeny finding it on Google Maps can really freak a person out A post shared by Ritva Huttunen (@the_silent_people) on Oct 4 Don’t ask me how someone stumbles upon a relatively obscure installation located on Highway 5 and many of them post their finding on social media which is how the eerie installation of artist Reijo Kela started getting a lot of attention online lately A post shared by Ritva Huttunen (@the_silent_people) on Nov 14 was originally located in a field in Lassila It was then moved in the Market Place of Helsinki’s Senate Square and finally settled in this empty field outside Suomussalmi in 1994 #winter_clothes #power_place #hiljainenkansa #silentpeople #niittykahvila #suomussalmi A post shared by Ritva Huttunen (@the_silent_people) on Sep 26, 2017 at 10:58am PDT Interestingly, Suomussalmi Youth Workshop maintains the The Silent People, changing the clothes of the wooden figures twice a year, using clothes collected through donation, which somehow makes this offbeat attraction even creepier. And if you’re feeling curious about what Reijo Kela wanted his Silent People to symbolize, you can keep scrathing your head, because he’s not willing to reveal the answer. People have been speculating about the meaning of the installation for decades, but so far we only have theories. The most popular version is that the figures represent those lost during a fierce battle that took place nearby during the Winter War of 1939-1940 between Finland and Soviet Russia. where biologists reported extensive wildlife destruction in mid-August Open image viewerA Metsähallitus team working to repair damage to a freshwater pearl mussel habitat in Suomussalmi on Monday Image: Rami Moilanen / YleYle News28.8.2024 18:54Forest products company Stora Enso on Wednesday notified the Kainuu Centre for Economic Development Transport and the Environment (Ely) of another incident where the firm says there is reason to suspect that a stream was crossed by work machines contrary to instructions The stream is a habitat for freshwater pearl mussels an endangered species that is crucial for river ecosystems Stora Enso’s head of media relations, Ingrid Peura, confirmed to Yle that this is a different location from the Hukkajoki river in Suomussalmi, where biologists reported a major suspected environmental violation in mid-August "There is reason to suspect that the Ely centre's and Stora Enso's own instructions were not followed in regard to crossing the stream," Peura said She declined to say where in exactly where the stream is located Peura also declined to say whether the latest case involves the same contractor as that in Hukkajoki director of ​​the Kainuu Ely centre’s environment and natural resources department told Yle that the area will probably be inspected next week there is currently no activity at the site She also declined to provide the precise location Stora Enso says it has suspended logging at all sites in Finland that involve nature conservation restrictions The forest products giant says that it is re-evaluating not only ongoing logging projects but also completed logging in sensitive nature sites Environmental damage at the Stora Enso site in Suomussalmi was revealed in mid-August when forest machines had been driven hundreds of times over the protected Hukkajoki The police are investigating the case as an aggravated environmental crime it was reported that the police have several suspects in the case Both Stora Enso and the landowner had information about the river near the logging site including instructions that it must not be crossed with forest machines Stora Enso says it is trying to determine why the instructions were not followed Stora Enso said that it is inspecting its logging sites and conducting an internal investigation Restoration efforts at Hukkajoki are being carried out for a second week under the leadership of the state forestry enterprise Metsähallitus Thousands of mussels may have been killed at the site. Freshwater pearl mussels can live to be 250 years old Each mollusc purifies some 50 litres of water daily Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here A police officer directed traffic at the site of an accident that left eight people injured in Suomussalmi EIGHT PEOPLE suffered injuries as two cars crashed into one another in Suomussalmi The accident took place on highway 5 some 10 kilometres north of the 8,000-resident municipality shortly before 10am as the driver of a south-bound car tried to overtake a long line of vehicles but failed to get back into their lane before crashing head-on into an approaching car Police have reported that the road was slushy and driving conditions were difficult at the time of the accident Helsingin Sanomat on Monday reported that the driver of the south-bound car is born in 1972 and that of the other car in 1993 Both cars had three passengers in addition to the driver the director of Kainuu Social and Health Care Joint Authority Two of the injured people were transported to Oulu University Hospital and six to Kainuu Central Hospital in Kajaani Two of the patients were later moved from Kajaani to Kuopio Koukkari told Helsingin Sanomat yesterday afternoon that one of the patients in Kajaani is in intensive care following surgery and three under intensive monitoring He did not have information on the condition of people treated in Oulu He had estimated earlier yesterday that their injuries may have been more serious than those of the people transported to Kajaani require time and special expertise to treat “I tend to think it meets the criteria for serious injury if a person isn’t able to walk on their own.” He had earlier said the eight had sustained injuries typical to car accidents such as thoracic trauma and open fractures oversaw an effort to clean up River Hukkajoki in Suomussalmi Up to thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels are believed to have died at the site after a forest machine serving a nearby logging site crossed the rivulet hundreds of times THE DRIVER of a forest machine that devastated a major population of endangered freshwater pearl mussels was following the logging plan provided by Stora Enso reveal documents obtained by Helsingin Sanomat On Monday, the daily newspaper reported that it has obtained the logging plan which provides workers serving the logging site with instructions for entering the site the boundaries of the site and storing the harvested timber Stora Enso has earlier indicated that it devised the plan for the site in Suomussalmi “My understanding is that the logging plan and timber sales deal were made by our forest expert, and my understanding is that they drafted a normal logging plan in conjunction with the timber sales deal,” Janne Partanen, the head of wood supply in Finland at Stora Enso, said to Helsingin Sanomat in August A forest machine serving the site drove across a rivulet inhabited by freshwater pearl mussels hundreds of times silting up the rivulet with sediment and killing up to thousands of mussels and leaving thousands more at risk of suffocation Police are investigating the incident as aggravated nature conservation offence the director of communications at Stora Enso on Monday declined to comment on the details of the logging plan obtained by Helsingin Sanomat “We can’t comment on a confidential document that’s related to an ongoing investigation,” she replied in a text to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat revealed on Friday that environmental considerations had largely been disregarded in the logging operation issued a notification of forest use that extended all the way to the edge of the rivulet despite a requirement to leave a 45-metre safe zone due to the endangered mussel population and neglected to seek permission for using a nearby road that would have prevented the machines from having to cross the rivulet The clear-cutting project was also carried out in summer at a site the owner of which had opted not to comply with even the most lenient environmental standard for forest management ELY Centres and the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) in 2021 withdrew from the forest management standard, arguing that its criteria are too lenient and the processes largely ignore science and ecology. Petri Keto-Tokoi, a lecturer in forest ecology at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences, described the standard as “greenwashing” and “public relations scam” in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat in May 2021 The ELY Centre for Kainuu in May instructed Stora Enso and the forest owner to leave a 45-metre safe zone along the rivulet to protect the mussels and to refrain from crossing the rivulet in a way that introduces mud and sand into the water The rivulet was inhabited by one of the largest freshwater pearl mussel populations in Finland The devastation was detected by sheer chance by a group of biologists who were mapping the area in August The rivulet was crossed in the same location also during a logging operation carried out for Stora Enso in 2012 Although the incident was detected in 2014 the ELY Centre for Kainuu did not report it as an offence despite its knowledge of the mussel population Stora Enso declined last week to both provide its logging plan for the site and answer most of the questions posed by Helsingin Sanomat Forests in Finland are harvested for wood regularly in areas inhabited by endangered and protected species, reports YLE Finnish regulations stipulate that forest management practices should take into consideration a total of 2,600 endangered and vulnerable species a requirement that is unrealistic if the populations are not known in advance a research professor at Finland Natural Resources Institute (Luke) Koivula on Saturday reminded the public broadcasting company that one in nine species in the country are endangered and that over a third of the endangered species inhabit forests Species that are difficult or require special expertise to identify such as epiphytic lichens and epixylic mosses are at particular risk of being overlooked during forest management projects “It’d leave quite a lot of the responsibility for the harvester driver and it’d require know-how that you can only develop through years of education,” he remarked The impact of forest management on endangered species has been a hot topic of public debate in the wake of the incident in Suomussalmi The debate has also cast light on similar incidents Transport and Environment (ELY Centre) for Kainuu on Thursday carried out an inspection at two logging sites used by the same forest industry giant amid suspicions that provisions of the nature conservation act had been violated at one of the sites Stora Enso itself issued a press release about the suspicions in late August. “The only information we have that is that we’re talking about crossing the creek. We want to communicate these kinds of suspicions at a low threshold, though,” Peura told Helsingin Sanomat on 28 August YLE on Saturday reported that changes in forest habitats caused by the economic utilisation of forests is the primary reason for the endangerment of 28 per cent of endangered species in Finland The endangerment of 24 per cent of endangered species is caused primarily by the closing of open areas which can have a detrimental impact on species such as drooping woodreed and lady’s-slipper orchid Koivula on Saturday told YLE that tensions between forest industry and nature conservation objectives will increase if logging volumes are increased “Logging doesn’t mesh terribly well with the demanding inhabitants of forests,” he summarised He added that the most significant impacts of forest management practices on endangered species are the long-term diminishing of important structural features “At least part of the endangerment of our species is caused by human activity,” said Koivula said to the public broadcaster that the forest industry is committed to maintaining and improving natural diversity Tapio is a leading provider of forest management-related advisory and consulting services in Finland “The only way to do that is to take species and their habitat requirements into account when logging Of course diversity measures are needed also in other types of land use than simply forestry,” she commented Tampere tram cuts and Turku's revamped waterparkHelsingin Sanomat reports on an "environmental disaster" in which a logging machine crushed thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels in the Hukkajoki River in Kainuu Open image viewerThe machinery crushed thousands of mussels but the main damage was from silt and sludge suffocating young mussels downstream Image: Pirkko-Liisa Luhta / MetsähallitusYle News23.8.2024 10:00•Updated 23.8.2024 11:27Papers on Friday reported on an incident last week in which a logging machine belonging to forestry giant Stora Enso repeatedly drove over a critical habitat for freshwater pearl mussels at Hukkajoki River in Suomussalmi A Helsingin Sanomat columnist described it as one of Finland's worst environmental disastersOpens an external website Oulu police announced they are investigating the matter as a suspected serious environmental crime According to a statement by forestry management firm Metsähallitus logging machines repeatedly crossed the shallow river The habitat of the pearl mussel and its host species has been damaged along an estimated 150-200 metre stretch "The devastation in the stream is one of the worst events we have ever witnessed," said Pirkko-Liisa Luhta According to an email Opens an external websiteseen by HS Stora Enso was aware of the presence of the endangered freshwater mussel and the necessary protective measures before the logging that caused the damage in Suomussalmi Kainuu's Centre for Economic Development Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) sent an email to Stora Enso and the forest owner prohibiting crossing the river at the mussel site the authority recommended leaving a 45-meter strip along the riverbank where no trees should be felled The Kainuu ELY Centre has informed HS that they also intend to file a complaint with the police While the machinery directly killed thousands of mussels by crushing them the main damage was caused by silt and sludge flowing downstream from the crossing site suffocating young mussels over hundreds of metres Open image viewerRescue operations to save freshwater pearl mussels in the Hukkajoki River Image: Ensio Karjalainen / YleMinister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) demanding for explanations from Stora Enso Tabloid Iltalehti estimated that Stora Enso could face millions in finesOpens an external website if the company is found guilty of the environmental crime found in more than 100 Finnish rivers and streams and which can live up to 200 years is vital for water quality and aquatic life the species is extremely endangered and has been protected in Finland since 1955 Plans to extend Tampere's tramline will be significantly derailed, with the state tightening its purse strings, reports paper Aamulehti.Opens an external website Municipal councils in Tampere and Pirkkala had planned to add another 13 kilometres of rails to the local tram network the funds will only cover the extension from Tampere to Partola near the Tampere-Pirkkala border construction will extend only to the Tampere Tennis Centre instead of reaching the planned Koilliskeskus in Linnainmaa The state has allocated 55 million euros for the extension short of the 100 million euros sought by Tampere and Pirkkala The state will cover up to 30 percent of the costs with the municipalities covering the remainder Kupittaa's adventure playground in Turku has been a firm favourite with families but the water play section has been out of action for renovation That changed on Tuesday when the revamped splash space opened for businessOpens an external website and the local paper Turun Sanomat went down to check it out who told the reporter of a desire to visit "at least a million times" showing a child's innocence in the face of the impending seasonal change to autumn Although some children complained that the water was a little cold they all said the play area was an excellent addition And much better than the 'digital play environment' that was a potential alternative when renovations were discussed."It would be a bit boring to be on your phone all the time," said 10-year-old Jonne Katajisto People took part in a clean-up effort in Hukkajoki River in Suomussalmi A forest machine is estimated to have driven across the rivulet hundreds of times causing the water to silt up and suffocating thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels STORA ENSO on Monday communicated that it has suspended wood harvesting at a number of sites in Finland The suspension applies to all sites subjected to operational restrictions under the water and will last until the paper and pulp manufacturer has re-evaluated the operational instructions harvesting plans and risks related to the sites Ingrid Peura, the director of public affairs at Stora Enso, told YLE that the suspensions apply to a few dozen sites representing a small proportion of the roughly 20,000 sites the company harvests annually Stora Enso also said it has started providing additional training on environmental policy and guidelines to its employees in an attempt to enhance compliance with environmental guidelines A third party will additionally conduct a comprehensive audit of its processes for planning implementing and controlling wood procurement The announcement came after widespread reporting about environmental damage caused by a forest machine serving a logging site in Suomussalmi The machine was driven across a river hundreds of times in violation of instructions provided by authorities causing the river to silt up and killing thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels The incident is being investigated as aggravated environmental protection offence the special-purpose company managing state-owned forests in Finland has led an effort to carry thousands of suffocating mussels upstream and rehabilitate the habitat “Stora Enso bears its responsibility both financially and environmentally. It is clear that we will pay the costs of the ongoing restoration. We want to thank Metsähallitus and the researchers for the work that has been done on the river so far,” Hans Sohlström, CEO of Stora Enso, said in a press release on Monday Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen (NCP) stated to YLE on Monday revealed that he will initiate an effort to explore measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in future could include ramping up criminal penalties or expanding the definition of environmental harm He described the incident as exceptionally egregious “Anyone can tell from the photos that the creek can’t handle an incident like that,” he commented on YLE A-studio the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group viewed on Sunday that Finnish media has gone too far in reporting about the deaths of the freshwater pearl mussels in Suomussalmi Although the “unfortunate and regrettable” incident warrants an investigation it does not warrant days-long comprehensive media coverage “Of course you have to report on it, but is it the number-one topic for several days?” he asked in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat Mäkelä claimed that the incident has been hijacked by people who were already critical of the forest industry in order to cast the entire industry in a bad light with the help of the media reporting “Now we’re starting to uncover the motives for fomenting the overblown outrage In reality there’s a desire to criticise the forest industry The mussels are only a tool to reach the goal,” he wrote in a social media post that referred to a story by YLE The company's logging machine repeatedly drove over protected areas in Suomussalmi, Kainuu, killing thousands of the endangered mussels, sparking outrage across the country. The timber from those felled trees is currently in storage at locations across Finland, and cannot be used for commercial purposes. Because the trees were harvested in a protected area, it made the timber uncertifiable, and regulations prohibit the use of uncertified wood. Logging operations were halted after the damage to the pearl mussels was discovered. Police in Oulu are investigating the case as a serious environmental crime. Before the logging was stopped, about 25 hectares of forest were cleared, amounting to several thousand cubic meters of wood. Following the incident, locals and environmental workers rallied to rescue the mussels and restore the damaged habitat. Freshwater pearl mussels can be found in more than 100 rivers and streams across Finland, and can live up to 200 years. The shellfish are known to improve water quality and offer benefits to other aquatic organisms. Due to habitat impacts, the extremely endangered species has had protected status in Finland since 1955. The cycles of nature are clearly visible at Martinselkonen Bear warning in JoutsaPublished 20132013Bear hunters’ haul down by nearly half Published 20122012Sources: Yle SILVER SPRING—We are at an interesting time in the Russian invasion of Ukraine a moment where we are seeing two grand overall trends unite to heavily propel things in Ukraine’s favor.  These two overarching trends are that Ukraine is contributing prudence and Russia is contributing its deteriorating capabilities to the conflict in ways that are dictating the pacing and nature of much of the conflict at the moment especially as most of the energy is now being directed towards the southern theater of action We shall skip an extensive geography lesson here you can effectively cut off any troops in certain parts of the area from effective resupply and reinforcement isolating large pockets that can then be weakened—cut off from ammunition unable to be effectively reinforced without exposing reinforcements to great risk and unable to retreat without similar risk nor with their heavy weapons and vehicles—and maybe even destroyed or compelled to surrender.  Even in the first month of conflict it was clear Russia was bad at supplying food and water to its troops so that those basic necessities may also be an issue in such a situation If even the best troops in the world are under such conditions over time, they can still be destroyed or forced to surrender relatively easily.  And we have to keep in mind we are talking about far from the best: the Russian Army which has demonstrated an appallingly low-quality logistics operation even without bridges being blown and having its troops cut off from supplies and reinforcements not only destroying the much-needed ammunition but further seriously damaging the bridge which the Russians were repairing at the time) Russia took a large number of troops from the slugfest on the Donbas front where Russia has for months concentrated most of its troops and effort with relatively little to show for it—and moved them to the south though reports on the latter were of Crimea being more of a staging area since it is a big hub for Russian military logistics but here Russia is actually weakening its main effort to adjust to an announced counterattack by Ukraine An even more important takeaway from Russia’s redeployment is that Ukraine is dictating to Russia the way the war is now going never a position you want to be in when your side is the one invading a country a telltale sign of Russia’s weakening position as now it must compromise its plans and aims and be reactionary when it is supposed to be dominating the dynamics and flow of the war It should have been clear to Russia that its troops in Kherson—city and oblast—were in a weak and vulnerable position especially after it learned the hard way of the amazing capabilities of Ukraine’s new Western weapons in action in the east on the Donbas front which had more or less halted Russia’s offensive there or But what does Russia do?  Put more troops it can ill afford to lose more troops into areas that can easily be cut off and isolated The limits of Russia’s capabilities not only see it stall in the east not only have its navy mostly too afraid to do much more than lob cruise missiles from far away on account of Ukraine’s effective anti-ship missiles (many supplies by the West) but now mean both that it will likely fail with any major attempt to keep its Kherson troops supplied/connected to other Russian forces and that any new troops moved there will be facing the same problems that Russia is generally incapable of addressing effectively to begin with Russia has essentially just gifted Ukraine more Russian troops that can be easily trapped.  And that is what is happening now As I quoted Forrest Gump in one of my recent pieces on all this: “Stupid is as stupid does.” I am also still surprised few people are realizing how the same treatment Russian soldiers are getting in terms of being isolated on the north/west bank of the Dnipro can easily be replicated in Crimea a relatively isolated peninsula with only two land routes out of its northern border into the rest of Ukraine through Kherson Oblast and one long bridge—the Kerch Strait Bridge also known as the Crimean Bridge—connecting its eastern tip to Russia a bridge that Putin had opened only in 2018 (its construction began in 2016 after Russia had already been occupying so it is likely just waiting for the right time to strike the bridge there to Russia and render it inoperable for Russia’s military.  And with Ukrainian anti-ship missiles and air defenses supplied by the West it would be quite risky for Russia to supply or reinforce Crimea by sea or air Ukraine is in the process of slicing and dicing a big chunk of Russian-held territory into three sectors that will soon be isolated from and unable to support each other: 1.) Kherson Oblast (including the city of Kherson) west/north of the Dnipro River; 2.) Crimea; and 3.) the rest of Kherson Oblast along with Zaporizhzhia Oblast where Ukrainian strikes against key Russian targets have also been succeeding and repeatedly so.  Isolated from each other more and more it will be likely that eventually only Zaporizhzhia can receive supplies and reinforcements from the Donbas or Russia itself after the Kerch Strait Bridge is damaged significantly by Ukrainian strikes-to-come.  This process has been slow and creeping but this pace is allowing Russia to stretch out its men and resources more and more over time and expose its forces more and more over time to being cut off or give their anxious commanders time and inclination to order generally fruitless assaults that simply weaken Russian forces in the sector and fail to push Ukraine back or would do so only than temporarily the concept of siege warfare is to surround and starve an enemy into submission without fighting to achieve victory without placing your own side’s troops at risk from actual battle.  You may be able to take a city faster with a direct assault but this would be at a much higher cost in lives lost for the attacking side; if time is not a particularly important factor siege or tactics approaching a siege are a way to inflict maximum casualties on the enemy while sustaining minimum casualties for your own forces Sieges and attrition-focused tactics and strategies are generally not as sexy for journalists and analysts as battles (though some can involve battles as one side or another tries to break the lines of the opposing force throughout) but Ukraine using these tactics and strategy means it is happy to keep using its longer-range precision weapons to devastating effect ruining Russian logistical arteries and supply missions and bleeding Russia’s overall positions out to make them weaker and weaker over time so that when an assault does come (if the Russians do not withdraw or surrender) the Russians will not be able to put up much effective resistance and will crumble all the more easily in the face of any attacks.  And as the situation for Russian forces deteriorates high-reward infantry-led strikes will also present themselves If this type of progress is being consistently made by Ukraine (and it is) hollowing out the core of Russian positions in entire sectors why would Ukraine risk high casualties in a costly wider infantry assault while there are still targets that HIMARS and other longer-range weapons can take out at little to no risk  Many of these targets are far behind the front lines meaning there is now nowhere Russian forces in the region can feel safe a situation disastrous for morale.  Weakening the positions behind the front lines also means that if the main line collapses much more than just that main line will collapse and it is more likely the whole sector could fall quickly.  Instead of weakness or any inability deliberative targeting by Ukraine signals confidence in its ability to continue to damage Russia at times and pacing of its choosing a mature patience on the part of Ukraine that will yield significant results over time at relatively low cost distance weapons while keeping its own forces as much out of harm’s way as it can where it can two whole Soviet divisions comprising about 50,000 men were destroyed who incurred just a tiny fraction of their foe’s casualties.  While the weather elements are not nearly as extreme for Russian forces in Kherson Oblast and Crimea today they are still significant formations that can still be relatively easily cut off and brought to their knees or worse by Ukrainian troops Ukraine’s prudence is meeting Russia’s limitations and this prudence will carry the day with more Ukrainian soldiers alive at the end than without it than with a more rushed general assault that would occur with still more Russian targets Ukraine could have taken out before that assault.  Contrary to what some think Ukraine knows what it’s doing and is still in the driver’s seat of this war thar Russia started and is now clearly losing If you appreciate Brian’s unique content, you can support him and his work by donating here; because of YOU, Real Context News surpassed half-a-million content views on 8/27/22! 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