Authorities announced on Wednesday that a Finnish-Swedish forestry business is accused of killing thousands of rare freshwater pearl mussels in Finland during a logging incident last week.
In the village of Suomussalmi in eastern Finland, logging machinery owned by Stora Enso crossed a protected stream, killing thousands of mussels. The incident is being investigated by the police, they said.
According to a news release from Metsahallitus, Finland’s state-owned corporation in charge of the conservation of the endangered species, the mussels were killed by the machinery used to move lumber across the Hukkajoki stream as well as by the mud, sand, and logging debris that fell into the river.
“The devastation in the stream is one of the worst events we have ever witnessed,” said Pirkko-Liisa Luhta, a project manager at Metsahallitus.The damaged area, which covered a distance of 150-200 metres (492-656 feet), was located on private land and protected as a habitat for the endangered freshwater mussel.
Found in around 100 rivers and streams across Finland, the freshwater pearl mussel can live for more than 200 years.
Because of habitat-damaging human activity, freshwater mussels are now considered endangered. Finland has had it on its list of protected species since 1955.
In order to repair the damaged riverbed and preserve the surviving mussels, experts who have been keeping an eye on the population of mussels in the stream were now taking action.
Police have accused Stora Enso of committing a “aggravated nature conservation offence.” The firm claimed that all forestry operations have been halted at the location, and it is currently looking into how it occurred. “We are very sorry about what happened. It is now essential that remedial action is taken swiftly and carefully to restore the damaged area and prevent further damage,” said Janne Partanen, head of wood supply for Stora Enso in Finland.
