HS Home 23.1.2001 - By his droppings shall ye know him (or her)

By Heli Saavalainen

There are yellowish-brown droppings by the foot of the fir. A few metres away is another pile, and by the large aspen is a third. Proof that the flying squirrel has been here. Perhaps it was just passing by, perhaps it lives in this forest. It's probably there somewhere, sleeping in an old woodpecker or squirrel nest, although you can't see it.

Word about the droppings is enough to make a road planner tear at his hair, a construction firm owner fume with anger, and the forest owner swear profusely. The environmentalist, on the other hand, is left smiling.

It's all about the droppings.

The flying squirrel has become

the disputed symbol of Finland's nature conservation. Its importance rose when it became the first endangered animal to be included in the Finnish environmental protection law, and then later when it became protected under EU regulations. The flying squirrel has the power to move logging, residential areas, the planned line of motorways.

Yet no-one has really seen the animal, and few research it. No-one knows how many flying squirrels there are in Finland. Ilpo K. Hanski, a professor at the University of Helsinki, who has studied the habitat of the flying squirrel, says that there is no reliable estimation of their population.

Rough ballpark figures say that there are 15,000 - 50,000 females or pairs - the males don't stay in one place long. Hanski speaks of tens of thousands.

The number has been

derived by counting the piles of droppings. The animal itself can live in the same forest for years without being seen. Often its nest isn't found until the tree comes down.

Perhaps it is this mystery that makes them so special. Nocturnal animals are difficult to see, which is why many believe that there are fewer than estimated.

They are certainly less common than they were, but they do exist. Intensive forestry has diminished their habitat, but has not exterminated them altogether. There are fewer suitable forests where the flying squirrel can build its nest and raise its family without being detected.

The Ministry of the Environment will publish a report shortly saying that the flying squirrel population has decreased by 20-38% over the last few years. The report included forests in which droppings - but no squirrels - had been found.

The EU became involved

in the plight of the flying squirrel once it became clear that it is not found in any other Union country. If Estonia becomes a member, it will most likely have to share the responsibility in the protection of the flying squirrel. For the time being Finland is solely responsible for keeping Pteromys volans in Europe.

Finland needs to maintain a favourable level of protection, although no-one can seem to define what "favourable" means. Finland added a clause in its environmental protection act prohibiting the destruction or dwindling of any area where the flying squirrel has clearly been detected.

The environmentalists were

none too pleased with the Ministry's interpretation of the squirrel's habitat.

Tapani Veistola of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation feels that all nesting areas should be protected. He says that the amendment to the environmental protection act is against EU regulations.

The environmentalists made a formal complaint about logging going on in Forssa, and Finland was reprimanded by the EU Commission in October. The Commission feels that no forest where the flying squirrel resides should be destroyed. The EU is not interested in whether the squirrel's nesting and resting placed have been physically detected.

The Foreign Ministry assured the Commission that Finland would continue to secure the flying squirrel's habitat in the present manner.

Pertti Rassi from the Ministry of the Environment agrees. He says that if every squirrel's nest has to be examined, Finland's forest industry would be history.

Finland may have to defend its environmental protection interpretations in the EU Court of Justice. This is where it will be decided whether the Finnish Act or the EU directive will have to be followed.

This strict protection

might backfire. The white-backed woodpecker, of which there are only 30 pairs left, became a scapegoat: forest owners began to cut down young trees before anyone could notice that the machines had cut down their nesting grounds. Grudges and resent were taken out on the woodpecker before the Natura programme was created. Does the same fate await the flying squirrel?

Nesting trees have been destroyed, but usually it has been by accident. The animal can't be seen, after all.

If the loggers keep mum about the flying squirrels, the environmentalists will consciously make big noise. The creatures can be used to prevent logging and construction.

So how do we know that the droppings found at the bottom of a tree have been left there by a flying squirrel and not brought by an over-zealous environmentalist?

Well, usually flying squirrels have been detected where they have been claimed to be.

There are still enough flying squirrels not to have to plant droppings around the forest. On the other hand, the environmentalists have tried to lure the flying squirrels into new nesting places with the help of man-made nests. It is quite easy to make the squirrel settle in the nest if the environment is favourable. The Ministry of the Environment does not care about the man-made nests, however. It only wants to protect the squirrel's natural habitat.

The droppings provide for

a substantial argument, but their detection does not automatically abort all construction. The area's environmental centre may grant an exceptional building licence.

The flying squirrel has changed the city plan of Tampere, and in Jyväskylä plans for a residential area have had to be amended. In Nummi-Pusula it could change the path of the Helsinki-Turku motorway, and in Kajaani the UPM-Kymmene land sales are falling through. In Forssa parts of a squirrel-inhabited forest were cut down, but the consequences of that action is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.

The flying squirrel might also disturb the plans to build a new golf course in Kirkkonummi.

In the midst of all this hassle, the little creature wants nothing more than to nest in peace, protected by dense firs, with plenty of aspen, alder, and birch leaves to eat. He will probably not appear at the EU Court of Justice, either.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.1.2001