Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 3.8.2025

Harms of white-fronted geese on beaches

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The topic of the week is goose droppings on beaches.

Beaches and swimming pools are now full of people. Goose poop makes beaches and lawns dirty.

Goose poop is a problem on beaches and lawns

![White-cheeked goose on the lawn.](https://images.cdn.yle.fi/image/upload/c_crop,h_1956,w_3478,x_0,y_3/ar_1.777777777777777 7,c_fill,g_faces,h_431,w_767/dpr_1.0/q_auto:eco/f_auto/fl_lossy/v1753785068/39-14999976888a2673c17e)

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White-fronted geese in Kaivopuisto Park, Helsinki. Photo: Matti Myller / Yle

White-fronted geese enjoy swimming on beaches and leave a lot of droppings.

Everything has been tried against geese. Fences, meadows and warning tape have been set up.

Dogs, drones and laser repellents have been used in fields outside cities. Shooting geese has also been suggested.

Shooting may be possible in the future.

The Parliament’s Environment Committee supports a proposal to hunt barnacle geese. The geese cause damage to agriculture.

However, the proposal on hunting applies to rural areas, not cities.

Even in the outdoor swimming pool, people suffer from goose poop

Goose poop on the lawn of Kotka Swimming Pool Katariina.

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In addition to beaches and lawns, geese also enjoy swimming pools. Photo: Kalle Purhonen / Yle

For example, there has been a lot of barnacle goose feces at the Katariina outdoor swimming pool in Kotka.

It makes it difficult to sunbathe on the lawn. Walking barefoot without shoes is disgusting.

Geese do not usually come to the swimming pools, but the edges of the pools are cleaned every day.

An attempt is made to remove the feces with a lawnmower.

Goose Poop and the New York Times

The New York Times main entrance

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The New York Times has also reported on Finland’s goose problem. Photo: Restricted use only in connection with this program, Yle Kuvapalvelu, kuvapalveluyle.fi

The goose poop in Helsinki has also become international news, with The New York Times reporting how the problem is harming Finland’s “short and precious” summers.

The newspaper writes especially about the Hietaniemi or Hietsu beach area, where birds are everywhere.

The problem in Helsinki is not new. The number of white-fronted geese in the Helsinki metropolitan area increased rapidly in the early 2000s.

The New York Times reports that Finns are desperate to find a solution.

A poop collector is being tested in Helsinki

This type of device will be used to remove goose poop from Helsinki beaches during the summer of 2025.

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They are now trying to collect goose droppings with a special device, because collecting them with a shovel or rake is slow and expensive. Photo: Vesa Marttinen / Yle

Collecting goose droppings with a rake or shovel is slow. There are dozens of workers on the beaches cleaning up the droppings.

A new goose poop collection device has been tested in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

The City of Helsinki organized an ideas competition last year. There were very few ideas, so we had to come up with a solution ourselves.

The collection device is a small metal cage that is pulled on wheels.

Repetition

The topic of the week was goose droppings in swimming areas.

It is disgusting to walk barefoot on lawns and beaches.

So far, there is no effective way to repel birds and their poop from beaches.

This was Uutisviikko in plain Finnish. See you again, bye!