Koitajoki, a river and a new oral history project for 2017 in North Karelia.
Summer is drawing to a close. Record-cold summer in the Northern European zone is very different from the blistering summer in southern areas of the continent. After a stream of visitors in June and July, ecological restoration of Jukajoki basin is in full-swing with actions in Linnunsuo wetland this week. With sad hearts we said goodbye to two Re-Wilding trainees, Marion Laventure and Antoine Scherer from France, who worked with our teams for over six months on the Jukajoki restoration.
River Kirakkajoki is the site of the 2017 restoration efforts.
Next week the restoration of habitats and spawning areas of Vainosjoki and Kirakkakoski areas in the Näätämö Skolt Saami home area commences. A team of Skolt Saami will work with Snowchange experts to restore the key habitats for trout, grayling. This is an important first step in actual restoration of these habitats, after years of planning and permitting processes.
Over the summer a new oral history work was launched focusing on the endemic whitefish populations of Koitajoki, North Karelia and the river seiners. The work has proceeded well, several community members have been met and we expect this to be a launch of a larger restoration and oral history work on Koitajoki basin, an iconic Karelian stream.
River Koitajoki. Photo: Eero Murtomäki
Early Autumn will bring community visits, Steering Committee meetings and future visioning in Aotearoa. A small South Pacific trip includes partnerships with the New Zealand Institute of Atmospheric and Water Maori Research Unit, communities of Tongaporutu and Taranaki, and much more!
Darren leads the Maori Research Unit of National Institute of Atmospheric and Water in Aoteaoroa. Snowchange, 2014
In other international news a Snowchange delegation travels to France in early September to discuss northern mining issues and ecological restoration, we will host experts on hydrodam removal from the US in October and will release several science papers in Autumn. Work on the Nordic IPBES report continues.
More updates in September.