Bird lovers warned that cannon practice at Oscarsborg could torpedo the nesting – Greater Oslo

At Oscarsborg fortress in the Oslofjord, a course in firing with salute cannons was planned on 19 and 20 April.

The course is for the crews who will fire salutes, for example on 17 May.

But the bird association BirdLife was horrified when they heard about the shooting exercise.

– It is an incredibly unfortunate time to do it, says Håkan Billing, who is the association’s county manager in Oslo and Akershus.

– And the place is not good either, he adds.

Billing points out that there is a bird reserve on the neighboring island of Håøya right next to it, where there is a bustling bird life with rare and vulnerable species.

And at the same time it was in the middle of the breeding season.

Bird sanctuary on Håøya

– Håøya is, after all, a nature reserve where nature, wildlife and birdlife are protected against disturbance.

And then you had to shoot for many, many hours straight at the reserve, says Håkan Billing.

He explains that the bangs could make the birds leave their nests and eggs. And that could then go wrong with the nesting.

– We sent a letter of concern where we told them that there are many nesting birds here, and they reacted instantly to that, says the county manager of BirdLife.

Moved the exercise

In the first instance, it was the State Administrator who was notified. They in turn contacted the Norwegian Armed Forces, both environmental officer in Forsvarsbygg and the site commander at Oscarsborg.

– They were responsive to our concern, writes wildlife manager Asle Stokkereit at the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken to NRK.

The theory part of the course was held at Oscarsborg on Friday 19 April.

But the practical part of the course with saluting was moved to Fredriksten fortress in Halden, Saturday 20 April.

BirdLife is delighted with the response they received.

– So it went very well. Very satisfied, concludes the county manager in Oslo and Akershus.