HS in Salo|Tens of kilometers of free waterways for migratory fish now flow in southern Finland. The actor and stream water activist Jasper Pääkkönen opened the river in an ominous way in the Donald Duck commercial a few years ago.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The nationally valuable migratory fish river flows freely in Salo after a hundred years.
The dismantling of the Holstenkoski dam opened up 80 kilometers of free passage for migrating fish between the sea and the ridge area.
Actor and fishing activist Jasper Pääkkönen considers the dismantling of the dam a significant act of restoring nature.
Holstenkoski flows freely in the Salon Aneriojoki, an hour’s drive from Ring Road. The sight is historic, as the demolition of the massive concrete dam has opened up to 80 kilometers of free passage for migrating fish between the sea and the clean groundwater of the ridge area.
“The original and vibrant, naturally reproducing trout population of the upper reaches finally gets to spread over the entire river area and, accordingly, the trout rise to the upper areas”, Valonia’s water and nature expert Jarkko Leka pictures a babbling rapid on the shore.
The stone dam has stood in place for a hundred years, and served the needs of sawmills, mills and electricity production. The dam has remained an obstacle for migrating fish and other river species, even though it has not been used for decades. Just a few years ago, active as a migratory fish, actor Jasper Pääkkönen imaginary opened the river just before the Hostenkoski dam Donald Duck in an ad.
“When the commercial was filmed, I could not have imagined that the dam would be demolished four years later. A funny coincidence describes how Finland has finally woken up to this most impressive act of restoring nature”, says Pääkkönen on the phone about the filming of the TV series from Norway.
The Holstenkoski dam was felled from a width of 12 meters. The dam has stood in place for decades without a purpose.
Obstacles clearing the way for migrating fish has become a big topic of conversation in recent years. The most well-known project can be considered the release of Hiitolanjoki in South Karelia. Three power plant dams were removed from the river that flows into Latokka, and the migratory fish immediately returned.
In Aneriojoki, the scale is significantly smaller, but significant according to Pääkkönen.
“It is yet another inspiring proof that the demolition of dams, the most impressive and immediate results of nature restoration, is progressing,” says Pääkkönen.
The water barriers of the river that cuts through Salo have been consistently dismantled in recent years. First, the fish roads bypassing the power plant and the regulation dam were completed in the lower parts, now the opening of the Holstenkoski dam to a width of 12 meters. In the upper parts of the river, in the area where the vibrant trout population occurs, there is still the Varesjoki dam, which, according to Leka, should be dismantled in time.
“I think it’s possible that migratory fish and other creatures of the river waters will return to the entire river area very quickly. Thanks to the ground water flowing from the tops, the river is cleaner than rivers in areas dominated by agriculture and forestry in general,” describes Leka.
Jarkko Leka, Wallonia water and nature expert of the sustainable development expert organization of the municipalities of Varsinais Finland, says that the dismantling of the Holstenkoski dam has also attracted international interest. Most recently, he talked about the project on the YouTube live of the environmental organization Dam Removal Europe.
In connection with the partial dismantling of the Holstenkoski dam, large quantities of stones were brought to the area to improve the living conditions of migrating fish and other aquatic organisms.
Another possible consequence of restoration is an increase in recreational use. Until now, the only significant hiking destination in the area has been Latokartanonkoski, located in the lower parts of the river. It is called the most spectacular rapids area in Southern Finland, the bubbles of which hikers come to admire especially during the spring and autumn floods.
“In the future, there will be enough water in the river in all seasons to enable paddling. In general, little has been said about recreational use, although the restoration projects bring a significant increase to it,” says Leka.
Four years ago, Jasper Pääkkönen was filmed in a humorous advertisement for Aku Anka, which broke down the Holstenkoski dam.
Pääkkönen is cautiously hopeful that the dozens of river restoration projects currently underway will move toward the larger goal of freeing the rivers.
“Finland is full of age-old dam structures, the builders of which have no environmental responsibility whatsoever. It is incomprehensible that hydropower has been allowed to be under the special protection of the state without obligations to compensate for the harm caused to nature.”
Pääkkönen hopes that the growing understanding of the immediate effects of restoring river environments will create pressure to intervene more strongly in the industry that produces hydropower.
“Demolishing the dams is not a piperry for the sake of migrating fish, but an effort to restore the habitat type that human activity and hydropower plants have lost in many places.”
Aku Ankka and HS belong to the same Sanoma group.
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