The case in summary • Alta municipality tightens the regulations to preserve more nature. At the same time that the population has increased sharply, large areas in the municipality have been developed. • The business manager says that the requirements for developers should be clearer in new regulatory plans. • The forestry manager is concerned that the bogs will disappear when they are laid under asphalt, which could lead to stormwater and flooding. • Removing the bogs also causes large amounts of stored carbon to seep into the atmosphere. • Biologist and professor Dag O. Hessen believes that too much power rests with local developers, who think about economics instead of nature conservation. The summary was made by an news journalist, with help from KI. – If you remove trees without approval, it will be expensive, says business manager in Alta municipality, Tron Møller Natland. For several decades, the population has grown and the private business world has expanded. For every new industrial building that pops up, valuable nature is destroyed. Now the municipality realizes that they have to get a foot on the ground. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news The municipality is influenced by community spirit and increased knowledge about nature conservation. In addition, they are at the forefront of the Norwegian Environment Agency’s announcement this week that the regulations should be tightened to avoid the degradation of nature as much as possible. – We have seen that over time too much nature is being built down. We think that in the next round the requirements should be clearer in the regulatory plan, says Natland. Forestry manager in Alta, Tor Håvard Sund, is aware that industry is needed to create jobs and development. But: – We must look for areas that are not as productive as good forest areas and agricultural areas, and rather build there. Instead of choosing the absolute simplest, says Sund. Forestry manager in Alta municipality, Tor Håvard Sund, fights for nature and wildlife in the growing municipality of Alta. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news – Removes absolutely everything The head of forestry stands in the middle of a large pine-clad forest bog. The birds are chirping and the sun is shining. The damp tufts are still full of lingonberries. – So to speak, everything here is to be laid under asphalt. In any case, that is what the plan is, says Sund. The divide in Alta. New industry will come here. The pine forest in Alta is part of Europe’s northernmost pine forest belt. Photo: Kai Erik Bull / news We are in the Skillemoen business area a few kilometers outside the center of Alta. Part two of the area has not yet been developed. When that happens, there will be stricter requirements for the protection of nature. The first part has been fully regulated, and many of the plots have already been developed. Around the modern industrial buildings there is asphalt and gravel. Some of the business owners will plant lawns. Hardly a pine tree is to be seen on or around the plots. Far less any bog spots. – A very nice pine forest has been built here. There is good soil underneath and very good for agricultural purposes. There are not many such areas in Finnmark, says Sund. – The municipality left a good number of trees in the middle of the area. But when the contractors build out, they remove absolutely everything. There is hardly a single tree left, he says. Tor Håvard Sund, head of forestry in Alta municipality, is in the Skillemoen business area, where all the natural pine trees are gone. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news The contractors want it to be practical and have put everything under asphalt on the industrial plots at Skillemoen in Alta. Photo: Kai Erik Bull / news Before the green area on the left in the picture is developed, Alta municipality will tighten the regulations with regard to nature conservation. Photo: Kai Erik Bull / news Sund believes that the business owners are destroying their own well-being. – Then they lose something more than just the trees. They also lose their lives, which the trees attract. It is extremely important, also in an industrial area, to have some birds and animals, says Sund. – Does not agree with recommendation Inside the lunch room of the contractor company Ronny Hermansen AS, the workers have just gathered for Friday waffles. When the media knocks on the door, it doesn’t take long before only the crumbs are left behind by the men. Managing director and owner Ronny Hermansen will remain in office. – Oh yes, trees. There are probably enough trees, he says with a smile. Company manager Ronny Hermansen believes that trees in industrial areas can be impractical. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news Ronny Hermansen has plans to plant a lawn around the commercial building. Keeping trees, on the other hand, can delay construction work at the start, he believes. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news The business owner emphasizes that he has nothing against trees. Only they are not on the site he pays for. There he wants as much space as possible for machines and trucks. – If the municipality wanted us to take care of trees, it should have been part of the plans, says Hermansen. Business manager Natland takes self-criticism that the regulations have not been clear enough. – If there is only a recommendation to leave some trees, they will be removed very quickly, he says. Before the green area on the left in the picture is developed, Alta municipality will tighten the regulations with regard to nature conservation. Photo: Kai Erik Bull / news Natland says that before they let anyone loose in the undeveloped forest area at Skillemoen, they want to know what they are doing. The municipality will therefore start a study. Professionals will be asked to provide input on how the area can be used as sustainably as possible. – That’s why nothing has happened up there yet. We must first get the input we need, which safeguards both protection and growth in a good way. Is it important to preserve green lungs when developing? Yes, of course No, just nonsense Show result Important for the climate Cutting down trees is not a major disaster, believes the forestry manager, because they grow back. But the fact that asphalt is laid over it is irreversible for nature, says Sund. He is particularly concerned that the moors are disappearing. They attract rainfall, of which there will be more in the future. If the bogs are placed under asphalt, the water will no longer have anywhere to go, and there will be stormwater and, in the worst case, floods, explains Sund. In addition, the bogs are important for the climate. Norwegian bogs store carbon equivalent to 3.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ – as much as Norway’s total greenhouse gas emissions for 66 years. The nature message to the government comes after the nature agreement from Montreal in 2022, where the countries committed themselves to protect 30 percent of all nature on land by 2030. – I think it is good that such a message is coming. At the same time, we are destroying more nature now than before the nature agreement came, says Sund. – I really feel that the nature announcement that is coming now is a kind of attack. Forestry manager in Alta municipality, Tor Håvard Sund, fights for nature and wildlife in the growing municipality of Alta. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news Money sucks Dag O. Hessen is a biologist and professor at the University of Oslo. He shares the concern that nature does not have enough protection. He refers to the government’s platform, which states that “climate and nature must form a framework around all politics”. – But it’s not like that. The bit-by-bit demolition continues, and too much power rests with local builders and contractors who primarily take financial considerations into account. Then development takes place more often in untouched nature, says Hessen. He believes there are positive signs, where there is beginning to be increased local awareness that lost nature is also lost quality of life when the nearby nature is destroyed. – We must look further into the future: Do we want those who live here in a hundred years to also enjoy the nature that is so important to us? Photo: Anna Julia Granberg Forestry manager Sund says that a green corridor has already been laid between development fields 1 and 2 at Skillemoen. Here the moose can cross undisturbed and the birds can keep their haunts. – I am very happy about that. At least it’s something, he says. Published 18.10.2024, at 17.21
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Alta municipality will ensure that more nature is protected during developments – news Troms and Finnmark
