As an invasive species, the barnacle goose is causing significant damage in southern and eastern Finland. But the barnacle goose is a species specially protected by the EU and is listed in Annex I to the Birds Directive. This is how the Finnish try to solve their geese poop problems.
People in Finland who has spent a day in the park or at the beach in the Helsinki region during the summer season have experienced litter from a total of around 5,700 counted barnacle geese. The geese arrive in Finland during their spring migration, and they are expected to stay there until winter retreats from their Arctic breeding grounds.
****************************************
You might also like to read Crows ‘Paid’ to Pick Up Cigarette Litter in Sweden
****************************************
Not only can the geese get aggressive but their faeces litter much of Helsinki’s coastline and parks. The number of geese spending the summer in the capital is steadily growing, making cleaning of the parks more expensive and difficult and reducing the attractiveness of green spaces.
Several organizations, including BirdLife Finland and the North Karelia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, are monitoring the migration of barnacle geese. They are using bird watching services such as Tiira and migration weather forecasts from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, as well as the tracking of GPS transmitter geese to monitor their movements.
Many farmers in the region have also completely lost faith in the fairness of society, but the government has promised to help. In its policy program it says it will allow people to hunt for barnacle geese.
**********************************************
You may also like to read World’s First Fully Autonomous and Emission-Free High-Powered Street Cleaning Technology Born in Finland
**********************************************
This summer, the Finnish capital experimented with fencing in, not the birds, but humans. Despite having wings the birds opt to walk rather than being airborne. These urban geese seem to show a preference for maintained lawns.
It may be a solution for some areas, but the geese poop problem in Southern Finland is yet to be solved,
How the Finnish Try to Solve Their Geese Poop Problems, written by Tor Kjolberg