Bird life makes us humans happier. But the birds are much more: They are traffic lights for the earth we live on. And now it lights up red. So what is Norway doing to stop the crisis? So far very little. We are trained to think that birds cannot talk. But they speak to us to the highest degree, and what they tell about is dramatic. The number of birds is in rapid decline. Several species that were very numerous just a few decades ago are today highly threatened. Hooded gulls, mackerel terns, vipers and terns have all declined by 80-95 per cent. Song lark (lark), starling, house sparrow, great tit, gray gull, eider and tern, all down 20-50 per cent. In the book “The Tale of the Owls”. What the creatures of the night can tell us in the time of the nature crisis”, I write about how the population of the owl – our largest owl – has been reduced by as much as 90-95 per cent in South-East Norway. The hubro population has experienced a drastic decline. Photo: Torgeir W. Skancke There are ancient ecosystems that are now weathering. Scientists have found that the nesting sites of the hubbroke can be thousands of years old. Some species also progress, especially those that are good at adapting to humans. But the big picture is the opposite. Much of what happens is almost invisible to society at large. While major disasters get a lot of attention, the fabric of nature is quietly unraveling – mesh by mesh. An example of system failure: To get on the red list of endangered species, the most important thing is what has happened in the last three generations for the individual species. Long-term decline can go under the radar, and thus several species appear to be falsely “reported as healthy”. So what are the birds trying to tell us? The most important thing: The bird crisis is part of a large and comprehensive nature crisis. The birds disappear because both the insects, the plants and the fish fail. The birds therefore do not primarily die from pollution, but from starvation. The big society drives the ravages of the landscape, leaving only crumbs behind. The public often directs attention to individual species, such as wild reindeer, arctic fox or wild salmon. This is about something much bigger than each individual species. It is their habitats that are failing: the forest, the coast, the sea and the mountains. Climate gets the most attention among politicians. But clearly the most important cause of the nature crisis is nature destruction. The bird crisis is part of a large and comprehensive nature crisis, writes Torgeir Wittersø Skancke. Photo: Arild Marum Knutsen As many as 89 per cent of our threatened species are threatened because their habitats are disappearing. It is often claimed that only a couple of percent of Norway is depopulated. But single numbers can distort the truth. The fact is that in the last 100 years we have completely changed the country: As much as 70 percent of the forest in Norway is now cleared. In south-east Norway significantly more. The old natural forest has largely been replaced with more uniformly planted forest, far poorer in natural diversity. 100 years ago there were 5,900 km² of hayfields in Norway. This was where the classic flower meadows existed, but these have today been reduced by over 90 per cent. There are almost half a million cabins in Norway, and the municipalities have plans for at least half a million more. Other major changes: Development of cities, motorways, industrial areas, water and wind power plants, power lines, mines and fish farms. There is thus not one single cause of the nature crisis, but the sum of our overall industrialisation, efficiency and development. Climate change comes on top of it all. The result can be measured in lost wilderness: 100 years ago, 50 percent of the country consisted of wilderness. In southern Norway, only 5 percent of wilderness remains today. The natural crisis is overwhelmingly well scientifically documented. So where is the engagement? On 27 September, the government presented a report to the Storting on nature. It was intended as Norway’s follow-up to the UN’s ambitious nature agreement from Montreal in 2022, which pointed to the necessity of “urgent action”. The government’s “action plan for biodiversity”, on the other hand, only proposes mild and cautious measures. “To carry on the good Norwegian practice” seems to be circumscribed. Politicians, on the other hand, talk a great deal about the green shift, an investment in industrial and technological solutions to slow down the climate crisis. The term is on everyone’s lips, among politicians and in business. Because it smells like good investments? Old and hollow oaks are the single element in the forest that has the most species attached to it. In such trees, e.g. barn owl Photo: Torgeir W. Skancke Despite news’s series “Oppsynsmannen”, it seems that large parts of the political environment have not realized that we have a natural crisis that is as serious as the climate crisis, and that both are closely related. An imminent question: What are we going to do with a green shift that does not take into account the birds, insects, fish and plants? If the term is to have any purpose, it must be redefined. Storspoven lives in cultural landscapes, bogs and wetlands. The species has declined by over 70 per cent in 25 years. Photo: Torgeir W. Skancke A new study that followed 45 large bird species on migration showed that almost half of the deaths caused by humans (1,704) are due to collisions and electrocutions from wind turbines and power lines. And a study from central Norway showed that the hubber population decreased by as much as 40 per cent as a result of wind power development. Nature does not ask us to build more, but less. Yes, far more nature must be left untouched. For some it will be painful: power projects that have to give way, clear-cutting in the natural forest that has to stop and cottage projects that have to be rejected by the municipal council. Very few politicians dare to talk about it: We must start living differently and in harmony with nature. Yes, even challenge the growth model. We cannot continue to vacuum up natural resources. We’ve been doing it for far too long. The birds have spoken: Save our livelihood, it is urgent. Send us your opinion Want to write? Feel free to contact us at news Ytring with your post. The guidelines can be found here. Published 06.10.2024, at 16.56
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The bird crisis – Speech
