– Finally you can enjoy the garden – news Vestland

– It’s absolutely fantastic, you can finally enjoy the garden, have a bit more exciting things in the bed, and not think about what the snails like and don’t like. That’s what Heidi Sund says in Sustainable Life at Eidsvåg in Bergen. Since the brown slug first came to Norway in 1988, it has been a nuisance for garden owners. For years, Norwegians have tried to eradicate the slimy mollusk that has spread over almost the entire country. But now it may look like the trend has reversed. In one round of weeding in the garden, Sund found five to six brown slugs. A few years ago she could find around 200. Before Heidi Sund could find hundreds of these in her garden, now there are significantly fewer of them. Photo: Erling Fløistad / NIBIO Not easy to find them Bjørn Arild Hatteland, snail expert and researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomics (Nibio), confirms the impression. He meets news at Lofthus in Hardanger, where he stands with his hand under a bush to find the brown snail. – No, it wasn’t that easy to find them, even though it’s a bit damp here, says the researcher. After looking for a long time, he comes across three snails hiding in a pit. Researcher Bjørn Arild Hatteland is struggling to find brown snails. This has not always been the case. Photo: Tale Hauso / news According to Hatteland, there is no comprehensive overview of brown snails in Norway, but there are many who report to Nibio that they think there are fewer brown snails than there were a few years ago. – The brown snail has declined considerably in many places, it has, says the researcher. – But it depends on who you ask, if you ask someone who has a kitchen garden, they would like to experience that some years are still a problem, says Hatteland. Decrease in sales of snail remedies Category manager for plants in Hageland, Siri Sando, says that they have also noticed a decrease in the number of brown snails. It’s gratifying, she says. – We have seen a marked decrease in funds against brown slugs so far this year. Felleskjøpet also sees a decline in sales of snail remedies. – If it is true that there are fewer brown snails in circulation now, then we see that as very positive, says communications manager Veronika Skagestad. Full war effort But it hasn’t always been like this, so in 2014 a separate gardening team was started in Eidsvåg to fight the snail. – We went all out against the brown snails at Eidsvåg, says Sund. On a charity night, they could quickly pick 40 to 50 litres, a bucket was filled in half an hour. – It was completely wild. One can expect to see less of these in the years to come. Photo: Rune Christoffer Holm / news Has spread Since the brown snail came to Norway, it has spread further north in the country, further into Eastern Norway, and some time ago also along Mjøsa. – There they now experience it as a big problem, says the researcher. There have been large numbers of brown snails in our nature for many years, now it is flattening out. Photo: Astrid Engen / news One of the reasons why there are fewer snails in many places is that they have been in our nature for many years. It is typical for invasive species that are introduced with human help, that there are large numbers of them for a few years, before it levels off. It is not only natural causes that are the reason why the number of snails is now decreasing, says Hatteland. He points out that people have made a great effort to kill snails in areas where there have been many of them. Not extinct Hatteland emphasizes that the brown snail is not extinct in this country, and that it will probably never happen. But at Eidsvåg in Bergen, Heidi Sund is happy that she can now enjoy the garden, without killing snails every day. – As long as everyone knows that they must have a tidy garden, and cut snails if they see any, then things will go very well, says Sund. Although the brown slug will probably not become extinct in this country, one can still be happy that this will become a rarer sight in the garden. Photo: Henry Tendenes



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