Tero Mustonen, Chair of the Snowchange Cooperative and University of Eastern Finland Docent, has been selected as the Alumnus of the Year of the University of Eastern Finland.
- Text Sari Eskelinen | Photo Raija Törrönen | Video Kimmo Salvén
Tero Mustonen won the Goldman Environmental Prize in April 2023, in recognition of his work in nature conservation. He is also the founder of the Snowchange Cooperative, which has restored more than 100 individual nature sites in Finland, affecting around 52,000 hectares of land and aquatic habitats. The scientific methods developed in the WAPEAT project carried out at the University of Eastern Finland have played an early, major role in the restoration efforts undertaken by Snowchange.
“The project gave us some replicable tools for addressing bottlenecks in restoration together with the rural areas affected in different parts of Finland.”
According to the Rector of the University of Eastern Finland Jukka Mönkkönen, Tero Mustonen’s work has promoted the wide-ranging societal impact of the university’s research and education.
“His long-term and diverse involvement in the university’s restoration projects has strengthened the visibility of research, both nationally and internationally,” Mönkkönen says.
The University of Eastern Finland will donate 2,000 euros to the Snowchange Cooperative for its restoration programme.
The WAPEAT project, funded by the Academy of Finland (now the Research Council of Finland) in 2012–2016, was able to successfully monitor the restoration of Linnunsuo, an old peat mining area located in North Karelia, which is where Snowchange’s extensive restoration programme originated. In the WAPEAT project, a multidisciplinary team of researchers investigated the effects of suspended solid loads from peat mining on water bodies, and analysed the regulation of, and application practices related to, water bodies affected by peat mining areas.
“Acidic water from Linnunsuo got released into the nearby Jukajoki river, which led to fish deaths,” Mustonen says.
Snowchange collaborates with the university
Mustonen defended his dissertation at the University of Eastern Finland in 2009. After his doctoral research, he spent several years at the university, working as a part-time researcher and teacher in, e.g., the WAPEAT project. Mustonen’s other livelihood comes from being a professional fisherman. According to Mustonen, the multidisciplinary project is an excellent example of research impact at its best: several articles on its findings were published in high-level scientific journals, and it laid the foundation for Snowchange’s restoration efforts.
“Environmental issues need to be examined from a multidisciplinary perspective and researchers need to be able to engage in multidisciplinary dialogue. When researchers can put their own discipline aside and hear questions and truths, even harsh ones, from other disciplines, it creates a sufficiently robust approach to solving complex environmental problems. And that’s not very easy to achieve.”
Science communication addressing basic facts is also needed for raising awareness of the state of the environment in Finland among citizens.
Collaboration between Snowchange and the University of Eastern Finland continues. For example, the cooperative hires students to do research as part of their final thesis or doctoral dissertation.
“Snowchange is a science organisation that implements projects in rural areas, and research conducted with the university brings us added value.”
Environmental issues need to be examined from a multidisciplinary perspective and researchers need to be able to engage in multidisciplinary dialogue. When researchers can put their own discipline aside and hear questions and truths, even harsh ones, from other disciplines, it creates a sufficiently robust approach to solving complex environmental problems. And that’s not very easy to achieve.
Tero Mustonen
Alumnus of the Year
Status of early-career researchers should be improved
As a researcher, Mustonen is particularly concerned about the status of early-career researchers in universities that are steered based on their performance.
“Universities are whistle-blowers of society: they have a mandate to inform decision-makers of how nature and climate are doing, and what the solutions to the challenges identified are. However, this mandate has been systematically weakened in the last decade.”
According to Mustonen, funding for early-career researchers should be improved so that they’d have access to a small, readily available funding allowing them to launch research in their respective fields.
“The significance of early-career researchers being able to get involved in research right away and talk about their important research findings on the changing society and nature is greater than economic austerity measures.”
Influencing on bigger arenas
Following the Goldman Environmental Prize, Mustonen has taken an increasingly prominent and public role in addressing environmental issues in Finland, including contributing to the restoration of the Finnish forest reindeer and the landlocked Atlantic salmon populations. Without action, genetically unique species will disappear from Finland’s nature.
“It’s about the choices we make. For example, the landlocked Atlantic salmon can still be saved, but the current measures are not enough. Once hunted to extinction in Finland, the Finnish forest reindeer is doing a little better now.”
Mustonen was on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for six years and already then, he got to meet with key decision-makers. The Goldman Environmental Prize has opened doors to even more influential arenas, where Mustonen has spoken about the importance of climate action.
“To put this metaphorically, we used to be a punk band playing at a local club, but the prize turned us into a rock band throwing gigs on stadiums.”
The Goldman Environmental Prize money is used to restore forests in Inari, Finnish Lapland.
“We are looking for ways to restore forests in Northern Lapland in a way that is both backed by science and acceptable to the Sami people, in an effort to combat biodiversity loss caused by forest management practices that favour clear-cutting.”
Small actions for the environment
What small actions could an individual landowner take for the environment?
“It can be just about stopping and taking a breather, thinking about the climate and nature when planning the management of their land. In Finland, for example, restoration is always worthwhile.”
Landowners can also choose to conserve their land and even commercial forests can be managed more sustainably.
“In the end, it’s a matter of hectares, nothing more. How many hectares do we give to nature and how many do we keep to ourselves.”
For further information, please contact:
Tero Mustonen, tiedotus@lumi.fi
