Moose broweing damage in Finland and Sweden
On June 3rd Interreg Aurora-project ClimateForest hosted a cross- border webinar on moose browsing damages. The speakers were leading experts from forest research institutes in Finland and Sweden, as well as the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Forest Agency.
The aim of the event was to identify challenges and discuss common grounds related to moose browsing damage on a national and regional level, and to discuss further cross-country exchanges.
The webinar
The webinar started with a short introduction made by organizer Mika Tapio, the Finnish Forest Centre. Then the key speakers Juho Matala, the Natural Resources Institute Finland, and Christer Kalén, the Swedish Forest Agency, made a short description of how moose damages are defined in Finland and Sweden respectively.
In the second part of the webinar key speaker Ari Nikula, the Natural Resources Institute Finland, gave an overview of resource-based moose population planning and damage control in Finland. Fredrik Widemo, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, gave a brief presentation about moose management in Sweden. And last, but not least, Märtha Wallgren, the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, gave a summary of wild-life adapted forestry.
Group discussions
The webinar ended with discussions in small groups and then a joint discussion. Mani topics to discuss were the biggest challenges and what we can learn from each other. Several of the groups mentioned the recruitment of new moose hunters as a challenge, as well as forest owners regenerating with spruce instead of pine because of heavy browsing.
Outcome
- The webinar will result in a short paper, summarizing the lectures and the group discussion, says organizer Mika Tapio. This will then form the basis for additional cross-border cooperation and knowledge exchange.