Published 12.10.2018

Bird nesting boxes donated to Arctic Council Environment Ministers and representatives of the Arctic Indigenous peoples organizations

Published: 12.10.2018

Participants of the Arctic Biodiversity Congress constructed bird nesting boxes to support breeding of birds in Arctic Rovaniemi. Boxes were signed by Environment Ministers of the Arctic Council member states and representatives of the Arctic Council Permanent Participants.

Arctic is an important breeding area for many bird species. Most birds that breed in the Arctic migrate to spend the winter outside the Arctic and face a myriad of challenges which threaten the viability of their populations. One way to support breeding possibilities is to build suitable nesting boxes for birds.

Participants of the Arctic Biodiversity Congress were building bird nesting boxes in a workshop led by Metsähallitus, enterprise managing state-owned lands and waters of Finland. Also insect hotels were constructed in the workshop.

A selection of the bird nesting boxes were donated for signing to the Environment Ministers of the Arctic Council member states and representatives of the Arctic Council Permanent Participants (Arctic Indigenous peoples organizations) by Regional Director Kirsi-Marja Korhonen, Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd and Environment Planner Timo Tahvonen, Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.

Nesting boxes will be staying in the Arctic nesting area in Finnish state-owned multiple-use forests. Most of them will be placed in Rovaniemi, in an outdoor-learning-area for children, managed by Science Centre Pilke. Some of the nesting boxes will be placed to yards of local nursery schools.

There will be follow-up to see which birds are nesting in the boxes next spring. The bird nesting boxes are made for small birds, like different species of tit and pied flycatcher. Information about the birds nesting in each signed box will be available in the following websites of Science Centre Pilke and Metsähallitus-Facebook.

tiedekeskus-pilke.fi/en/

facebook.com/metsahallitus/

Arctic Biodiversity Congress was held in Rovaniemi, Finland at 9-12. October 2018. Congress was organized by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, Finland to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity.

Further Information:
Regional Director Kirsi-Marja Korhonen, Metsähallitus, tel. +358 400 300 861, kirsi-marja.korhonen(at)metsa.fi