The forestry industry has time and again cut down forests that should not have been cut down, shows a review news published earlier this year. A new case of felling a goshawk nest on Toten shows another clear violation of the regulations, according to experienced ornithologists. Glommen Mjøsen Skog, which was responsible for the felling, apologizes for what has happened. They believe they did not have access to good enough database systems to discover the nest. BIRD OF PREY: The goshawk is particularly vulnerable to logging because it nests in forests ripe for logging in “good quality”. Bonity is an expression that describes the area’s ability to produce wood. More simply explained: How much and how well the forest grows on the site in question. Archive photo. Photo: The police Discovered that the nest was gone According to its own rules, the Forest Service must keep a distance of at least fifty meters from raptor nests during felling. Ornithologist Even Dehli shows the way to the forest area where the opposite has happened. – It’s probably that tree over there, I think, says Dehli and points out one of the many large stumps that have been cut on a small area. Then he digs around the stump and finds several bones which show that there has been a raptor’s nest here. The nest discovered Dehli last spring. DIGGING OUT: Even Dehli and Rolf Jørn Karlsen dig up bone remains from the nest around the trunk of the tree. BONE: This is probably a bird bone that has fallen from the nest. GULPEBOLLE: This swallow bowl also confirms that there has been a nest in the tree. – Now I’m not particularly religious, but finding an inhabited goshawk nest is what I would call a holy moment. It’s a really great experience every time, he says. Later in the summer he observed at least three cubs. But when he was going to check the nest again this spring, after the snow had gone, he got a big surprise. Both the tree the nest was in, and the surrounding area, were felled by logging machines. CLEARING: The area around the goshawk nest was clear cut in December last year. Photo: Reidar Gregersen – It was an incredible shock, I’ve never experienced it before, says Dehli, who has been working with goshawks for around ten years. After he discovered the nest last year, he reported the incident to the State Administrator. The state administrator in turn entered the observation in the sensitive species database and notified the landowner by letter. – It seems completely prehistoric, really. That this can happen now is absolutely incredible, that is. I just sat on the stump to stare, says Dehli. About the goshawk The goshawk is a large bird of prey in the hawk family. It is considerably larger than its relative the sparrow hawk. In Norway, it lives in dense forest over most of the country. The species prefers old forests of pine and spruce, but is also found in some places in old deciduous forests and in other forest types. The diet consists mainly of medium-sized mammals and birds. Adult goshawks are usually resident birds, while the young birds tend to migrate towards the coast or southeast to Sweden. Source: Store norske lexikon and the species data bank. Assessment in the red list The species is assessed as vulnerable VU for the Norwegian red list of species 2021. The category comes from a small population size and ongoing decline. Previously, it was classified as near threatened. Want to report the case to the police Rolf Jørn Karlsen, board member of Birdlife Oppland, is also in the woods. He is an old forest worker and has previously discovered many goshawk nests that have fallen victim to logging. He is surprised that what he calls a clear violation of the law, and that such environmental crime can happen today. – Both the forest owner and Glommen Mjøsen have sat here with all the factual knowledge. There is no good excuse for such a situation as we are in here now, he says. Karlsen confirms that the matter has been reported to the police. At the same time, he believes that this is also serious for the system of which forestry is a part. Almost all forestry in Norway follows the PEFC standard, which is supposed to be a guarantee that forestry operates sustainably. Karlsen believes this is a clear breach of this standard. – The entire forestry industry uses this as a facade to say that they operate sustainably. But this is not sustainable, here one clearly breaks the rules. This forest owner should never have had the opportunity to deliver this timber for sale, says Karlsen. Sorry for the felling Glommen Mjøsen Skog was responsible for the felling of the forest in question. They explain the felling by saying that they did not have the data from the sensitive species database available in their systems when the felling was done. – We didn’t get up to walking until later and that unfortunately led to damage to this nest. It’s very regrettable, but that’s the way it is, says Yngve Holth, business policy manager in Glommen Mjøsen forest. He emphasizes that they have been working with data on vulnerable species for many years and have a large database of information from municipalities, the state, counties, organizations etc. In addition, they have pushed to get data from the government’s sensitive species database into their systems . – Fortunately, we had a breakthrough in the summer of 2022, but unfortunately for this locality it was not up and running until 2023. He believes they now have a good system for the future, but does not want to speculate on whether they did enough in this specific the case. It is part of the management of deviations in the company that they are now in the middle of. In this assessment, they will also consider whether the deviation should have any consequences for the company. This self-assessment is then tested by an independent third party. – We are very keen to take environmental considerations into account and follow legislation and the PEFC forest standard. Goshawk nests have automatic protection in the standard and a nest location must not be cut down. This is the basis of all our practice and we always check our information about nests before harvesting, says Holth. Still a way to go Harald Klæbo, senior advisor at the State Administrator in the Interior, regrets the case of logging. He emphasizes that there are only a handful of nesting sites for goshawks on Østre Toten. – It is very little desirable, and we are working to avoid it here. We have had some deviations over the years and that is what we are working towards to avoid, he says. The senior adviser emphasizes that they could have wished that the forestry industry had entered the data from the species database somewhat earlier in their systems. Alternatively, that they had used the sensitive species database to which they have access. – In the work with endangered, vulnerable species, we still have a way to go. This case here also shows that, he says. Klæbo also believes that it is the right way to go for the forestry industry to plan for increased transparency from the public. Then the individual can see how deviations are handled in a simpler way than today. news has been in contact with the landowner, who refers to Glommen Mjøsen Skog in this matter.
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Despondent over felling of goshawk nests on Toten. Glommen Mjøsen Forest apologizes for the felling – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
