If you read other Norwegian blogs or have access to Norwegian news, you’ll know that Wednesday was the last day of NRK’s monumental six-day-long broadcast of a voyage of one of cruise line Hurtigruten’s ships along the coast of Norway, from Bergen to Kirkenes. NRK placed cameras in and around the ship and broadcast the entire trip--- almost 140 hours of sailing and docking---on TV and the internet. The show was ridiculously popular, with millions of people here and all over the world tuning in around the clock to see the gorgeous Norwegian coast and the lively parties that greeted the ship at every port.
I admit that I didn’t watch very much of the show. I tried; Husband and I tuned in at dinnertime to see what was happening but I found myself reaching for the remote after ten minutes. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the phenomenon of what is (apparently) the longest TV documentary ever produced, or the outstanding beauty of the Norwegian coastline; I just need a little more action with my TV. It would have been better for me if, say, a murder was committed on the ship and my favorite Swedish detective, Kurt Wallander, showed up to solve the crime. That would have rocked! Or, maybe if Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer had been playing tennis on the deck----yes, that would have captured my undivided attention (although, admittedly, even their matches don’t usually last that long).
Anyway, respect to everyone who spent more than 30 minutes watching the MS Nordnorge on its northward journey. I understand the captain of the ship, Geir Arne Johannessen, is now a national superstar. And I read today that a five- or six-hour “highlights” program can be seen on NRK.no, and also, I can buy a DVD box-set of the entire voyage in time for Christmas. Mom, Dad---guess what Santa’s bringing you!
It was fun listening to radio reports about the TV program, especially the way so many people were going on and on about how majestically pretty Norway is, how much they love nature, and how wonderful it is to show off the country’s bounty of natural wonders to the rest of the world. So imagine my disappointment when, right in the middle of this flora and fauna lovefest, I read in the papers that the government issued its new “predator management policy,” an outline of its plans---in agreement with all of the governing political parties---to “manage” the population of Norwegian bears, lynx, wolves, and wolverines. And by “manage,” it means---let’s be honest---kill.
The view on “predator” animals in Norway is extremely controversial. Farmers, who often refuse to put up fences or other barriers, complain that wolves and lynx kill their free-grazing food animals such as sheep, cattle, and reindeer. Hunters tend to see predator animals as competition for the animals they are after, i.e. moose and deer. Rural residents often feel threatened by the presence of what they perceive as large, dangerous animals. The government’s latest “management” plan is yet another effort to appease these constituents, while also trying to deflect criticism from environmentalists, animal rights activists, scientists, and a huge number of Norwegian and Scandinavian people who are horrified by anti-predator attitudes.
The populations of wolves, bears, and lynx in Norway are regulated by hunting and culling but incidents of illegal killing are routinely reported.
The bottom-line issue here is land and who has the right to it. Farmers? Hunters? Developers? Animals? A growing population of wealthy consumers is increasing pressure on the country’s disappearing wilderness. Demand is going up for coastal and mountain cabins, leading to further demands for electricity and roads in remote areas, which will then bring in more and more people.
All of that seems to spell even more doom for not only predator and other animals but much of the natural beauty so spectacularly featured on the Hurtigruten documentary. It seems like it’s getting to be time for more Norwegians to decide if they, indeed, really do love nature or just love the idea of it as seen from the deck of a cruiseship or the veranda of their hytte (cabin).
8 comments:
I'm norwegian and ashamed of the way we manage our predators. We expect that other contries preserves lions, tigers, rhinos etc., but wolfs, lynx and brown bears in our own country..? It's ridiculous.
And the Hurtigruten show....I watch quite alot, but it was the evening and night that was fun. The most amazing sunset/sunrise with all the mountains and tons of little boats following the Hurtigruten to the harbours...and music playing in the background. Sometime it was so beautiful that I got tears in my eyes, and that is not just because I'm norwegian;-) You should try to watch the highlights:-) You even had a guy in a green "Borat" thong waterskiing alongside of the boat. Thihi.
Hei Bente! Var det deg som kommenterte her i april da jeg skrev om voldtekter som skjedde i Oslo? Jeg beklager at jeg ikke svarte da, særlig fordi kommentaren din var kjempe interessant og smart. Takk for at du leser bloggen min!
About predator animals, I've been really surprised to learn just how strongly negative some people here feel about these magnificent creatures, but it's certainly not just a Norwegian problem. There are very similar attitudes in America, so I share your shame.
I watched some of the Hurtigruten highlight show and enjoyed it so much! The scenery is so spectacular, it brought tears to my eyes, too. I think that's got something to do with how much I'm loving Norway right now. :-) I'm sad I missed Borat-thong guy... ;-)
Hi again! Yes, that other comment was also my work:-) I like to read your blog and other blogs written by people living in Norway with a foreign background. It is so interesting to see Norway and norwegians "from the outside", and often it makes me think about things that I otherwise would never given a thought:-) I think more norwegians should try to do that, some have a tendensy to be very "navel-gazing" (haha, funny word) and especially negative to foreigners. My deepest shame in Norway is the large support FrP is given....I really hate that party and everything it stands for :(
I hope you don't mind me babbeling on. I think it is the norwegian in me when I feel a bit intrusive leaving a comment... But I think your blog is wonderful, and you are great at telling stories and seem generally very "oppegående" :)
God natt!
To be honest, I couldn't stand to watch much of the Hurtigruten broadcast myself as I too found it lacking action. I only switched over to watch whenever I knew that they would be docking at someplace special to me. My parents loved it though and there was this news article recently about a 82 year old man who watched almost the entire thing except for a few ports. That to me is just admirable. I can barely keep myself awake through a Lord of the Rings movie marathon and this guy watched for about 134 hours at the age of 82.
I was a bit surprised to read about wildlife regulation in the same post, but come to think about it, I do belive it's a good question to ask while we're at the peak of our nationalistic feelings of pride and joy of our nature. It seems a bit hypocritical to praise our nature in one minute and then suddenly outline plans for reducing wildlife predators that is included in that same nature.
Norwegians, and I would believe scandinavians in general, are very focused on trying to leave nature alone. That's part of the reason for why you won't see many safety precautions on many sites that offers a special view of the nature, for example the Pulpit Rock. I agree with that wholeheartedly, tho it does mean that alot of people have to think for themselves when they are out in the nature.
I do, however, also belive that there is a neccessity to keep wildlife predators down in certain areas of Norway. This should be near populated areas or near endagered species to mention two. It would be a very bad idea to let loose bears near the kindergartens where you kids play. (tho unlike sheep that fall pray for predators, the kids will usually be fenced in)
When that is said, if there's one thing Norway has, it's great areas of untouched wilderness where animals should live and thrive in without our meddling. Farmers should definitely try to fence in their livestock before crying out for the predators to be killed.
Despite the fact that norwegians seems to be building coastal and mountain cabins everywhere possible, I doubt it'll be the end for our spectacular nature, nor species of predators in it. There are very strict laws to where you can build cabins and how big they can be to protect the nature. This does lead me to have a bit optimistic view of the future to our wildlife and nature.
So, the score between mankind vs. wildlife predators? Well I for one is hoping there will only be a draw and no losers.
Hello Bente, I am Michele's husband... no blogger skills like Michele but I like her blogs and try to comment occasionally.
I must admit I was moved by your comment about being ashamed of the FRP support in Norway. As you know from Michele's previous posts we are very conscious of this because we are immigrants...as is so typical of their hypocrisy in so many areas, we do not attract their ire because we are the "right" colour.
I think it truly is shameful that political parties build their support along anti-immigrant themes, blaming them for the vast majority of problems that afflict modern societies. But at least Norway has never elected them to power...unlike Denmark, Holland and now Finland. I guess good economic conditions have helped.
I must admit I am more disappointed that in this age of incredible prosperity in Norway and complete turmoil in most of Europe and the US, that the borgerlig parties are so popular...I think the one factor that has made Norway so successful is that there has never been a Reagan or Thatcher revolution resulting in massive wealth redistribution from the bottom/middle to the top. I know Høyre will not receive that kind of mandate - it likely be a more gradual change but I will be sorry to see that in one of the very few countries that still has a left leaning government and society.
Hi Vidarp. Yes, it was a bit of a leap I took connecting the Hurtigruten show to the wildlife management plan but it was something I felt, so I decided to go with it. I hope you are right that animals and nature will survive their forced co-existence with humans, but I am not as optimistic as you in this regard. I fear that human behavior is taking the planet in a dangerous direction and it may be too late to repair the damage. But I haven't given up, so am not in complete despair. I appreciate so much the beauty around me every day---and there is a lot to appreciate in the Norwegian summer! Oh, I have to add that I think it's far more likely that a child would be hit by a car than attacked by a bear, so maybe we should talk to someone about the number of cars on the road?
Bente and Vidarp, I want to tell you how happy it makes me knowing that you read and enjoy my blog. I very much appreciate your comments, too, as it's excellent for me to get a Norwegian perspective on the topics I'm exploring here. I hope you continue to share your opinions with me!
@ Trigve -- even if FrP ever gets into office, we're not moving, so you'll have to figure out how to deal with that... :-p
Michele, I hope that I'm right as well, but I think you got every right to be concerned about the well-being of wildlife and I wish more people would express their opinions like you have. Being optimistic will, after all, not likely do much for the animals. Expressing critisism and asking questions is what is going to help provide change in the areas where it's needed.
My maybe ignorant optimism, is based upon my experience with other norwegians. It's quite as simple as that. Most norwegians I've gotten to know, have turned out to be caring deeply about animals and nature itself. Be that domesticated or wildlife, although wildlife usually do get a higher level of scepticism for natural reasons. You don't run over and hug a wolf or a bear or try to pat on a moose when one crosses your path. Usually. (I atleast didn't when a moose blocked the path in front of me) The problem is that alot of norwegians tends to keep such opinions for themselves. This is also a problem in politics where I think most norwegian have an opinion of about every topic conceiveable, but media seem to report an all time low participation every time there's an election.
I don't support fur farms, no matter how comfortable they say the animals are, I do however support hunting (although I'm not a hunter myself) as long as it's not overhunting. As tempting as it is to let nature run wild, it can often do more harm. Overgrazing can, for example, create hunger for a wast number of animals over a long period of time.
Cars running over children, as tragic as that is when that does happen, might just be an entirely different discussion I think, but yes. We are our own greatest enemy.
To change the topic a bit (I think I've written far too much alread), I do love reading your blog and may I just compliment you on your excellent norwegian. I'm glad we're posting in english. As incorrect as my english might be at times, I'm far worse in any form of norwegian out there ;)
My only complaint is that there's not enough updates! But of course I understand the reasons for why that is, so please don't take that statement in a negative way :)
@ Vidarp -- thanks again for your great comments. If your only problem with my blog is that I don't post enough, that's a problem I can live with! :-)
@ Bente -- jeg glemte å si at hvis du har lyst til å skrive kommentarene dine på norsk, vær så god! Jeg trenger mer erfaring med norsk!
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