Along the county road at Beitostølen, at the foot of Jotunheimen National Park, the lupine has taken root. 900 meters above sea level, the flower fills the ditches along what is only a few hundred meters further away the national tourist road above Valdresflye. – It is dramatic – a tragic development, says head of the Nature Conservation Association in Valdres, Fred Kuyper. He is concerned that the lupine will spread even further up the mountain. Great risk Since 2007, the lupine has been on the alien species list in Norway. In 2016, it was forbidden to plant it. Because it doesn’t really belong here. Nevertheless, the flower has been allowed to spread. – Sure, the lupine is nice, but it doesn’t help. It cannot continue like this. We are forced to remove it, believes Kuyper. BEAUTIFUL: Some may think that the lupine is a beautiful flower, but it poses a major ecological risk. Photo: Stine Bækkelien / news All over the country Now the lupine can be found virtually all over the country, according to Kristine Bakke Westergaard, associate professor at the NTNU Science Museum. Along the entire coast, all the way to Finnmark, the flower is found. Lupine follows vegans, but also the rivers. Below you can see how the garden lupine has spread in Norway from 1916 until 2020: So far, the lupine has not made it up the mountains or into the national parks. But it is approaching. – It is a goal that we should keep invasive species that pose such a great risk outside the protected area because they cause so much ecological damage, says Westergaard. – Perhaps the battle is lost in areas that are not protected, but we still have to aim for protected areas to be free of these species. Difficult to get rid of Every year, the Norwegian Environment Agency allocates millions of kroner to try to overcome species that threaten Norwegian nature. This year, state administrators have received a total of NOK 6 million for measures against alien plants outside protected areas. But getting rid of the flower is no easy task. – It’s a lot of work. One way to combat it is to hit them before they set seed, so that they cannot spread further upwards along the vegan. They also have to stay down all the time, says Westergaard. And this must be done again, and again, and again. For several decades, believes Westergaard. – Because the seed lies in the soil and forms a seed bank. They can sprout for many years after you think you’ve got rid of them. NATIONAL TOURIST ROAD: The road over Valdresflye is a national tourist road that attracts thousands of tourists every summer. Photo: Stine Bækkelien / news It’s a job Innlandet county council, which owns the road over Valdresflye and into the national park, is trying to do. – We carry out ecological risk assessments and measures with the aim of preventing the garden lupine from spreading further, says Janicke Haug, senior engineer in Innlandet County Municipality. Considering several measures In order to prevent the flower from spreading up into the high mountains, they cut the trenches in the direction towards the center of Beitostølen, not towards Jotunheimen. – We must now assess whether the degree of measures should be increased, says Haug. She says that they are forced to have a greater focus on the mountain area where they see that the lupine is starting to climb upwards. – We are worried that this will spread to the areas that do not have forest vegetation along the road, but open mountain expanses, she says. – Then there is no longer a barrier. SEVERAL YEARS: Removing the lupine is a big job. It will take several decades to get rid of it, according to Kristine Bakke Westergaard at the NTNU Science Museum. Photo: Stine Bækkelien / news Great job that the Leader of the Nature Conservation Association in Valdres has been trying to fight the lupine for several years. He does not want to say that the battle is lost, but they have a big job to do. FIGHTING: Leader of the Nature Conservation Association in Valdres, Fred Kuyper, is fighting to prevent further spread of the lupine. Photo: Stine Bækkelien / news – I gradually got the feeling that not many people believed that we would make it happen. It is expected that it will continue to spread, says Kuyper. – The most important thing now is that the spread stops where it is very dramatic, such as here, towards Høgfjellet.
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The lupine is approaching Jotunheimen National Park – the Norwegian Nature Conservation Union is worried – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
