‘I don’t know. Like I said, our forests are rubbish. Do you think bears need old-growth to flourish?’
‘No. She likes it, of course, and core areas are important, but bear is omnivore and she’ll survive. Look around you here – we have no old-growth left in Finland, hardly none anyway, but we have more bears here now than any time in history. Tourist boom, ban on hunting, big protected zone in Russia, it adds.’
‘What’s most important?’ I asked.
‘Ban on hunting is single biggest factor, I think.’
‘I’ve heard people say bears are good at helping restore damaged ecosystems. Any truth in that?’
‘Yes. I agree with that,’ Tanka nodded. ‘She eats what there is plenty of, does some gardening, helps balance.’
‘Gardening?’
‘She breaks up fallen wood, spreads nuts and seeds and spores, turns stones, a bit of digging, all of this is good for diversity, this is true, Drima?’
‘Absolutely.’ He nodded vigorously.
‘We need to study the habitat issues, I guess,’ I said.
‘And people’s opinions. That’s like way the most important thing for bear survival,’ said Païvi.
‘You should propose to do study with Norway and some other countries. European Commission love this kind of joint project, even if Norway still isn’t officially in Europe.’ Tanka surprised me. One moment an eco-warrior, the next a diplomat. It was a good idea, and I told him so.
As if needing to reassert his more radical side he said, ‘If that doesn’t work, you can speed things up with some little direct action. We find she’s very helpful here from time to time.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, sometimes there are border fences to stop animals going where they want. I don’t think bears are using wire cutters very good. Her paws are too big, you know. Sometimes she needs helping hand.’ He winked.
Drima said, ‘I am not hearing this.’
‘Unfortunately, Scotland’s on an island. They’d need swimming lessons, not wire cutters,’ I said.
‘Yes, it would be challenge,’ Tanka grinned.
‘But not impossible,’ Païvi giggled.
‘Are you two subversives here for anything in particular?’ Drima asked.
Tanka dug a Geo out of his pocket and waved it at him. ‘Inventory results. Can we use couple of terminals? We put them straight into database, if you want.’
‘OK, use the west lab.’
‘Good to meet you.’ Tanka rose and swung his jacket off the back of the chair, pulled out a card and handed it to me. ‘Maybe have some beer later?’
‘I leave tonight, have to get the night train from Kajaani,’ I said, with genuine regret, rummaging for my card. ‘We’ll meet again, I hope.’
‘I’m interested if you make progress in Scotland,’ Tanka said. ‘Good luck in Norway. I hope some bastards don’t shoot your bears.’
‘Me, too. Thanks.’
Païvi gathered up the mugs and with a ‘Ciao’, they were gone.
Drima and I returned to the study of vegetation patterns and bear movement correlations for the remainder of the afternoon. But I was haunted by the premise that human opinions constrained the success of any bear population more than the quality of the woods.
Anja Eldegard met me at Oslo station.
‘It’s very kind of you,’ I said. ‘I hope I’m not putting you to any trouble.’ It was Saturday evening.
‘Not a bit,’ said Anja. ‘This is my husband, Per.’
A round smiling father-bear shook my hand. A more matching couple it was hard to imagine: both dressed in black velvet suits, they clearly featured in the same fairy story.
‘We were in town for a concert, so this is good timing. And if you stay with us, I won’t have to go anywhere tomorrow to meet you, and we really need to put our heads together before Monday,’ Anja said.
Per grabbed my bag and led us off to a parked car. It was electric and purred quietly out of the city, through the suburbs and onwards to a gingerbread house in the woods. I was yawning and grateful to be shown to my room as soon as we got there. I slept under a gingham quilt, presumably in Baby Bear’s bed, and woke to the sound of a violin, and sun streaming in through the window.
Downstairs, Anja was presiding over a breakfast table laden with breads, cakes, jams, cheeses, meats and preserves. ‘Eat!’ she demanded. I ate.
‘Per is playing Bach,’ Anja smiled. ‘That’s always a good way to begin the day, I think.’
‘He’s very good,’ I said. ‘It sounds complex.’ Sweet toned threads of melody twisted and looped from the room next door. ‘Beautiful.’
Anja beamed at me. ‘Yes. The most beautiful music.’
We ate on wordlessly, listening. I was grateful not to have to speak and guessed that Anja hated breakfast-time conversations as much as I did. Not a woman for small talk and that suited me fine.
After breakfast Anja declared it time for work. We moved to the back of the house, to a large table in a conservatory.
‘Petr Scazia was very impressed by you,’ she said, getting a large map out of a tube and unfurling it across the table.
‘Likewise,’ I said, feeling the blush rise, hoping it was not too obvious. I helped Anja pin down the corners of the map with pots of pens and paperweights.
‘I’m glad you went in person,’ Anja continued. ‘Petr says, if we need to, we can release some of the bears they have at their rescue centre. You didn’t get there?’
‘No.’ I had to keep my eyes down, feeling my face turn the same colour as my hair. ‘We spent the three days I had in the forest, watching bears, exploring their habitat.’ Was I trying to convince myself that was all that had happened?
‘Excellent. Much more important for your role in this. And I’m not sure if Romanian bears would be a good idea. Perhaps we should just be bringing some over the border from Sweden, hastening their expansion, as it were. On the other hand, some new genetic material might be a good idea. Anyway, there’s no need for you to get embroiled in the logistics of finding bears. We need to keep you focussed on locations.’ She tapped the map. ‘Let’s see where we are. You’ve chosen your criteria, I take it? I must say I like your methodology. Very clear, simple. Even the minister should grasp it. Well done.’
I sighed relief.
‘Can we do the first stage yet, do you think? Identify the suitable habitats?’ Anja looked up at me. ‘I recognise the geopolitical constraints task is a bit tougher, but if we could have the ecological frontrunners for the meeting tomorrow that would be very useful.’
‘I’ve got about twenty sites. The GIS guys have been incredibly helpful – let me get my data stick.’
‘What for?’
‘I can plug into your computer, show you the analysis.’
‘I’ve no computer here, I’m afraid.’
‘You what?’
‘No computer. I’m old-fashioned. I work on paper here. I don’t like machines at home.’ Anja looked sheepish, putting her hands out in a gesture of offering. ‘Bears don’t use computers, do they?’
‘I can see why Petr and you get on.’ I grinned.
Anja smiled back. ‘Oh yes?’
‘The three days I spent with him I never used my computer, my phone, not even electric light.’
‘But you still learned enough?’ She looked concerned, as if I might be criticising.
‘I learned more about bears in those three days than I could have learned at a desk in a lifetime.’
Anja relaxed.
‘I’ll go and get my phone. I’ve done a heap of analysis on the long train journeys to come up with the site selection. It’d be good to go through it with you.’
‘Can we not just do it on this map?’ She was like a big kid, in danger of sulking if we didn’t play with her favourite toy.
‘Of course. I just don’t think I can remember the sites I’ve picked out off the top of my head. I’ve never been to some of them. And I think the justific
ations might be important. But the map’ll really help me to get a sense of the locations, the big picture.’
‘OK.’ Anja looked mollified by the ‘big picture’ comment.
She is more sensitive than she looks, I thought, as I made my way to the bedroom and back; strange how our vulnerabilities show at home. I wondered what Petr’s home might be like, then pushed the thought away. I needed to stop thinking about him. There was nothing but frustration to be gained from a crush on a Romanian scientist. I had to forget it. Forget him.
Anja had drawn both chairs round to the side of the table so we could work with the map. We spent the morning sticking notes on it, colour coding for habitat attributes. I had chosen winter cave sites as the top criterion, indicated by geology. Then large intact forest as number two. General vegetation diversity third. Ant nest distribution fourth. Then I had ruled out the wettest areas, and added a preference for high elk density.
‘Why the rainfall criterion?’ Anja asked.
‘Call it a hunch that bears don’t like to get too wet.’ The memory flared of the wet bear seeking shelter that night, and I quickly stamped on the spark.
‘And the elk? Won’t high numbers mean repressed vegetation and conflict with the third criterion?’
I explained the theories of Petr and Tanka that the bears would exploit the available niche, helping to restore balance to the ecosystem, flourishing where excess herbivores indicated a shortage of top predators. ‘So I think the elk numbers are a good indicator of where the bears might be able to do most good.’
Anja paced the room. ‘It’s an interesting approach. There may be some challenges tomorrow. I hope you’re ready for them?’
I expounded the theory of seed dispersal and Anja smiled at me. ‘You did learn a lot from Petr.’
I laughed in acknowledgement.
‘Have you got references?’
I nodded. ‘I’ve done some other scenarios, too,’ I said. ‘For example, if I drop large forest area, move vegetation diversity up the ranking as a proxy for it, and add in a migration factor, then there are a couple of other sites.’
‘Migration factor?’
‘The likelihood that some will trot west over the border from Sweden, or from Finland or Russia into Finmark.’
‘It happens, certainly.’
‘That changes the picture dramatically. Suddenly, instead of all these southern plots, there are several northern sites.’
‘All in Sámi territory.’
‘Yes. It could make a huge difference to the socio-political analysis. The question is whether forest habitat is essential or if they’ll survive in a more mixed mosaic landscape, which is where we get our highest diversity.’
‘What if you keep the migration factor and lose one of the others, like the rainfall or elk or ants?’
I ran the various scenarios. There was less variation. A dozen sites were featuring on all versions, strong on all criteria. With all seven criteria, these twelve sites dominated.
Anja said, ‘OK. How about we settle on the seven criteria, including migration. Seven’s a lucky number anyway. Happy?’
I nodded.
Anja pointed at my phone. ‘Let’s get this to Paul Undset, the ministerial advisor. Can you send it on that? Then he can brief the minister before we meet tomorrow. No surprises. We need it to go smoothly. The Bill goes to the Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday.’
‘Already? Wow.’
‘Politics works at a different pace to science, that’s for sure,’ said Anja. ‘When they want something they get in their sports cars and race it through. When they don’t want it they can spend years unable to find the ignition key. It’s very frustrating. But at the moment they are motoring and we will just have to try to keep up.’
‘So about these twelve sites. Should I go and check them out? I’ve never been to some of them.’
Anja sat back in her chair and rocked her head. ‘Maybe a good idea, but it’s time-consuming.’
I thought about what Tanka had said and turned to Anja, trying to make eye contact. ‘What about local people, local knowledge, people on the ground? We need to consult them, surely, get them involved somehow.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t worry about that. That’s not your problem. You stick to the identification issue.’ She tapped the map. ‘We’ll deal with public relations separately.’
I turned further towards the professor. ‘I think I should check out the sites, get a feel for what the criteria combinations look like on the ground.’
Anja must have seen I was insistent. ‘OK. You’d better get an itinerary worked out. Try to have a firm conclusion two weeks from now. That’ll still leave us time for geopolitical constraints.’
‘I’ll need to do some historical and future variability analyses, too. Look at resilience, run some climate models, that kind of thing. We could do that in parallel with the geopolitical constraints work.’
‘Can you have that analysis all done by July 15th?’
I took a long breath. ‘I can try.’
‘Then we’ll still have a month to make the decision and persuade the minister before the Storting comes back into session after the summer recess. That’s when the Bill will go to the full Storting and, if they are still in favour of the idea, having a few specific locations agreed by then will be important.’
I gulped. It was all moving very fast. I was responsible for decisions in Parliament.
‘I was wondering,’ I said, ‘would there be any advantage in getting some other countries involved in this?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, it might be useful if the methodology was tested in other countries, say one with and one without bears, see how the maps look elsewhere, get more confidence in the method by testing it somewhere else.’
Anja nodded. ‘Could be, yes. I can see the merit in that.’
‘It might attract European funding if it involved partnerships with EU countries.’
The professor widened her eyes. ‘You’re serious. Where do you have in mind?’
‘Well, Scotland’s my obvious first choice for no bears. For places with, there are all sorts of options. Finland might be good – same latitude, or Sweden, or both, and we could get the Sámi Council involved.’
‘There could be a problem…’ She scratched an eyebrow.
I pressed on. ‘France then? They’ve recently reintroduced successfully. We could learn a lot from them.’
‘Yes, but if our criteria don’t predict well?’
‘We learn.’
Anja’s hand slipped to her chin. ‘Hmm. Finland’s better. Or Romania, any model should really be tested there.’
‘Both?’
‘But the timing is impossible. European bureaucracy is legendary. Though…’ She furrowed her brow. ‘I did hear something recently about a rapid turnaround process for small projects with political relevance – they’re calling it something like the hot science fast track. Leave it with me. I’ll sound out some of the others, and put it on the agenda for the team meeting after the minister has left.’ She put her hands on the table. ‘Good. That’s us, then. Time for lunch, I think. Then a walk, or a snooze. Whatever you do on a Sunday afternoon. Make yourself at home. I walk, alone. Don’t take it personally, please, but I need a regular dose of solitude.’
‘Me, too. I’ll send the sites to Dr Undset,’ I said.
‘Yes, do that. Then let’s eat and afterwards enjoy the rest of the day.’ She rubbed her ample belly and headed off towards the smells of cooking.
I searched my phone for Undset’s address and sent him a copy of the map, a list of the criteria and a brief explanation.
A message had come in from Dad. I felt a pang of guilt. I’d hardly been in touch for the past fortnight.
Had a trip to hospital on Thursday. Minor op. No need to worry. Your boss has been in touch. Good guy. Don’t let that commission interfere with your job. Love Dad xxx
No need to worry, indeed. He couldn’t
have alarmed me any more if he’d sent a telegram saying HELP!!! And what was Yuri up to? I went to lunch, anxiety bunched in my gut like a fur ball. I pleaded tiredness and got away as soon as I could, grateful for Anja’s call for isolation. In my room, I called Dad, getting only the answer machine, and left an insipid message. I lay down for a snooze, but tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Before dinner, I called again. He was in high spirits after an afternoon coaching at the football club.
‘So how did you hear from Yuri?’ I asked him.
‘Oh, he’s on the board of PiNor, and they’re going to sponsor the juniors.’
‘What, PiNor the timber company?’
‘Yes, I believe so. We applied to them a while back. They’ve built a big board plant not far from here.’
‘They’re part of UPP, you know. They’ve got a hellish reputation.’
‘Well, I don’t know anything about that. All I know is I get a letter of congratulations from your man Yuri Gagarin and so I sent him an email and he phoned me up.’
‘He’s not my man. And it’s Yuri Zeveris.’
‘Aye, well.’ He sounded aggrieved that his attempt at a joke had fallen flat.
‘I had no idea he was involved in the corporate world.’ Surely a board position at UPP shouldn’t be a surprise to one of his closest colleagues. I wondered what other secrets he had up his sleeves.
‘Aye, quine, and he’s spending their money well, if you want my opinion. More like that, I’d say.’
‘Anyway, how was your hospital visit?’
‘Ach, it’s nothing to worry about, like I said, maybe we can chat about it next time you’re home.’
The meeting with the minister went smoothly and I caught the night train back to Trondheim afterwards. Next morning, I went straight to the Institute and directly to Yuri’s office. I needed to sort out my position. If I was going to carry out the site assessment properly given the time constraints, I wouldn’t get much else done.
Yuri was sitting at his desk with, as always, three neat piles of papers in front of him. Apart from three chairs, a single bookcase of ecology texts and a filing cabinet, the office was devoid of the normal trappings of a researcher’s work, and there were no pictures on the walls at all, nothing to reveal the man’s personality. Or perhaps that was the point.
Bear Witness Page 13
