The matter in summary The pygmy goose is critically endangered. The population that breeds in Finnmark is the last one left in Europe. The pygmy goose has been given special protection in a separate regulation, but the protection does not apply to the nesting grounds or the areas where it roosts under cover. Pressure from Sami politicians and business interests led to the nesting areas being taken out in the first instance. The Ministry of the Environment promised in a document from 2011 to find out how the nesting areas should be protected, but nothing has happened in almost 13 years. The pygmy goose is so rare in Norway that every single adult bird is registered. The researchers recognize the individuals by the drawings on their abdomens. Since the species is critically endangered, it has been given its own conservation regulations. But the regulation is “absolutely ridiculous”, according to the organization BirdLife Norway. – It is designed so that it does not apply where the pygmy goose is found to the greatest extent in Norway, says pygmy goose expert Ingar Jostein Øien. – 95 per cent of the Norwegian pygmy goose population is located in the areas where the regulation does not actually apply. In theory, strict protection of the most important habitats for the pygmy goose has been introduced. This means areas where the geese have nests, where they rest during the draft, and where they gather to change their feathers. (They are extra vulnerable during the spring change.) But then come the big exceptions – black and white in the regulations. The protection does not apply to the nesting area around Iešjávri in Finnmark. This is the only known breeding area in Europe. The protection also does not apply to the rest area in the inner Porsangerfjord. Virtually the entire Norwegian population of pygmy geese roosts in this area. Ornithologist Ingar Jostein Øien (here with a reed sparrow) reacts strongly to the fact that the pygmy goose’s core areas are not better protected. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn Sami press “In the breeding area, traffic is a problem. Both motorized traffic and traffic in connection with tourism should cease”, wrote the then Directorate for Nature Management in its recommendation from 2011. The breeding area is located in the border areas between Alta, Porsanger and Kautokeino. It is so secret that the directorate did not mark it on any map that was public during the conservation process. But there was no protection. Pressure from the Sami side and local businesses led to the nesting sites in Inner Finnmark being exempted from the regulations. Sámi Parliament politician Toril Bakken Kåven runs open field farming in the area. She sent a hearing statement and protested. She completely denies that the local users have been a nuisance to the pygmy geese. – They have been our closest neighbours. We have not disturbed them, they have not disturbed us. Sámi Parliament politician Toril Bakken Kåven believes conservation rules that prevent the use of nature are Norwegianization policies that damage Sámi and Kven culture. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news She believes that the proposal for protection regulations was “a disaster” when it came. – In practice, it would mean that we were banned from the areas, and then our traditional outdoor industry would have come to an end. A draft from 2011 states that all traffic in the important areas should initially be prohibited. But that applies “only as far as they do not cause a significant difficulty in ongoing use”. Traditional harvesting could therefore continue. Could have been protected Ingar Jostein Øien says a lot could be done to protect the geese. – There are many outdoor activities there, such as off-road cycling and fishing. Traffic could be channeled outside the most central nesting grounds for the pygmy goose. A regulation could also have prevented major technical interventions in the area, says Øien. In his consultation statement, Toril Bakken Kåven wrote that it could be an advantage for the pygmy geese to have people in the area, so that foxes and other predators were scared away. – These are unreasonable arguments. It’s not like the pygmy goose does better when there are people nearby, answers Øien. – It can be quite vulnerable to disturbances on the nesting ground, especially during the incubation period. When the chicks are hatched, the goose families can be scared by people to graze in areas with poorer nutritional conditions, says Øien. – People who run businesses in the area believe they do not disturb the pygmy goose. What kind of basis do you have for saying that the birds are shy? – It is through many years of experience. We have carried out field work in these areas and studied the pygmy goose from a distance with a telescope for a period of over 30 years. Should have been protected according to the abandoned plan BirdLife Norway has long wondered why the regulation turned out the way it did. Old documents provide some of the answers – but not all. In a protocol from January 2011, it is explained that the rest areas should be seen in the context of a marine conservation plan. The Porsangerfjord was selected as a possible protected area in 2004, but no one has yet decided anything. Norway is involved in an extensive international collaboration to save the pygmy goose. This includes Greece, where the population overwinters. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn The protocol also states why the areas in Indre Finnmark were taken out: “The department points out, among other things, that part of this nesting and nesting area is already included in the proposal for a conservation plan for bogs and wetlands in Finnmark (…) » But this conservation plan had already been shelved, according to several sources, including an article in the Nation in 2010. When asked by news, the ministry cannot find any formal decision to put the conservation plan on hold. But a letter from December 2015 states that it is still on hold. Shortly afterwards there was a report to the Storting stating that the protection plan for bogs and wetlands was to be assessed as part of the county-wise work on supplementary protection. And so the years have passed. Neither Erik Solheim (SV), Bård Vegar Solhjell (SV), Tine Sundtoft (H), Vidar Helgesen (H), Ola Elvestuen (V), Sveinung Rotevatn (V) or Espen Barth Eide (Ap) have picked the case up from the drawer in his time as Minister of Environmental Protection. What happens now? It is unclear. “The department has not yet taken a decision on whether the conservation plan work for bogs in Finnmark should be resumed in connection with the ongoing work on county-wise supplementary conservation plans,” writes state secretary Kjersti Bjørnstad (Sp) via the ministry’s information department.
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The conservation rules to save the pygmy goose do not apply where it lives – news Troms and Finnmark
