Finnish forestry firms pledge to protect wildlife after endangered mussels crushed

Metsa Board Oyj

10/09/2024 15:56

By Essi Lehto and Elviira Luoma
       HELSINKI, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Finnish forestry companies
will work with the government to protect wildlife and avoid a
repeat of an incident in August when endangered river pearl
mussels were crushed by forestry machines, Environment Minister
Kai Mykkanen said.
    "Today we met with the top management of main forest
companies to start a process which will bring back trust that
these kinds of cases won't happen again," Mykkanen told
reporters in an online briefing on Tuesday.
    Thousands of river pearl mussels were crushed last month
when forestry machines transported logs across a river at a
Stora Enso  STERV.HE  logging site in northern Finland.
    Scientific diver Myyri Sysivesi was first to discover the
damage when she arrived on the logging site with a colleague to
research the pearl mussels.
    "We heard the forestry machine... and immediately noticed
that everything is not as it should be in the river. The whole
riverbed was covered in thick sludge," she told Reuters.
    Sysivesi said she and her colleague found shattered shells
and dead mussels near the point where the forestry machine had
crossed the river, adding that sludge and dirt had deprived the
shellfish of the oxygen-rich gravel that they need to live.
    Finnish police have said they are investigating the incident
as a case of serious environmental crime.
    Stora said crushing the mussels was a result of
communication and IT problems and human error. It suspended
logging in environmentally protected areas for two weeks and
said it would pay for restoration of the river.
    In its own investigation, Stora found similar damage on
another logging site, saying it would monitor log harvesting
better in the future. 
    Finland is a major producer and exporter of pulp, paper and
other products that are based on logging in the country's vast
forests.

 (Reporting by Essi Lehto and Elviira Luoma in Helsinki; Editing
by Ros Russell)
 ((essi.lehto@thomsonreuters.com; +358505412375;))