What is tiny, with a mustache and goes: “Ping!”?

Yes, it is a male Bearded Reedling. Formerly this species was known as the Bearded Tit, but it was renamed after discovering that it was unrelated to other tits, in spite of its appearance.

What comes to housing markets, the Bearded Reedling favours only one type of accommodation: the large reed beds. These birds inhabit the vast reed beds all year round. During winter they feed on the reed seeds.

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Poor environmental legislation and spineless politicians have made Finland a paradise for mining companies.

The nickel and zinc producer, Talvivaara Mining Company has so far gained reputation by ignoring environmental regulations. Huge emissions of sulphate, sodium and manganese have turned nearby freshwater lakes salty. The company has also been plannig something bigger. Behind closed doors it co-operated with government authorities and made plans to extract also uranium from the ore, and open the first uranium mine in Europe. This way it could avoid the public debate and the proper environmental audition.

“Uranium mining operations have got into the country ‘through the back door’ and they are ruining the country’s reputation as a travel destination, especially in the north. Bad decisions on nuclear power plants are now getting a follow-up with uranium mines. This madness simply has to be brought to an end”, said former Green MP Erkki Pulliainen. Pulliainen added that a few years of mining operations are not worth ruining the reputation of Kainuu and Lapland as travel destinations.

More about uranium mine plans in Finland.

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Waste reduction saves energy and natural resources.

The European Week for Waste Reduction 19–27 november 2011.

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Invasive species can be a problem for local ecosystems.
Cartoon for the magazine of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation – ‘Luonnonsuojelija’.

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“A male reindeer has one goal in life – having his own harem. Powerful males are able to gather 30–50 females to form one. Defending the harem and keeping the females in it satisfi ed is hard work.

Although mating with a female takes only 15 seconds, it is nevertheless a strenuous endeavour for males: after the act, they will stop eating altogether for a couple of weeks and consequently lose a fi fth of their body weight. For females, being in heat is not as demanding: their appetite remains mostly unaffected.”

Illustration and text from a poster series made for Levi nature trails in Finnish Lapland. (Illustrations: Seppo Leinonen, text: Keijo Taskinen, layout: Jyrki Heimonen, translation in English: Jussi Saurio)

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“Baltic Sea Challenge – Cities for a Healthier Sea” project encourages citizens and challenges organisations to join the work for improving the state of the Baltic Sea.

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Norway lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) are migrating in Lapland. I saw those fearless tiny hairballs swimming at the Lake Inari and heard their angry swearing, when they encountered a human intruder.

More about lemmings at Outdoors.fi site.

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Finnish mobile phone company Nokia dumped open source Linux based Meego and jumped what they call “a new ecosystem”, that is Windows operating system. Good luck Nokia, you’re gonna need it.

Tomi T Ahonen writes: That is the Elop Effect and it will destroy your company in less than a year, guaranteed.

Engadget: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest ‘burning platform’ memo?

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The United Nations proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

You also can follow United Nations Decade on Biodiversity and Positive Visions for Biodiversity on Facebook.

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