HELSINKI, Aug 21, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Finnish-Swedish forestry company is suspected of killing thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels in Finland in a logging incident last week, authorities said on Wednesday.

Police said they are investigating the incident in which Stora Enso's logging machines crossed a protected stream in the eastern Finnish town of Suomussalmi, resulting in the death of up to thousands of mussels.

The machines transporting timber across the Hukkajoki stream -- and the mud, sand and logging debris that fell into the water -- killed the mussels, Finland's state-owned enterprise responsible for the conservation of the threatened species, Metsahallitus, said in a press release.

"The devastation in the stream is one of the worst events we have ever witnessed," said Pirkko-Liisa Luhta, a project manager at Metsahallitus.
The damaged area, which covered a distance of 150-200 metres (492-656 feet), was located on private land and protected as a habitat for the endangered freshwater mussel.

Found in around 100 rivers and streams across Finland, the freshwater pearl mussel can live for more than 200 years.

Human activities affecting the mussel's habitat have rendered the freshwater mussel an endangered species. It has been listed as a protected species in Finland since 1955.

Experts who have been monitoring the mussel population in the stream were now taking measures to restore the damaged riverbed and save the remaining mussels.

Stora Enso, which is suspected by police of committing an "aggravated nature conservation offence", said all forestry activities have been stopped at the site and the company was now investigating how it happened.
 
"We are very sorry about what happened. It is now essential that remedial action is taken swiftly and carefully to restore the damaged area and prevent further damage," said Janne Partanen, head of wood supply for Stora Enso in Finland.