Christmas tree poachers face made-to-measure fines

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People who go into the City of Helsinki's forests with the intent of cutting down and stealing a Christmas tree face a hefty bill. The City will charge thieves according to a made-to-measure system, with each metre of spruce tree being worth EUR 50.
      If the thief is caught in the act and does not have the money on him, then personal details will be sought and a bill will be sent. If the individual is reluctant to divulge his name and address, then the police will be called in, according to Antti Niemelä from the Landscaping Unit of the City of Helsinki's Public Works Department.
      Poachers are an annual problem, albeit not a terribly serious one. This year no invoices have had to be written, but in some Yuletide seasons the odd thief does fall into the net. Members of the Landscaping Unit keep an eye on the city's spruce saplings in the run-up to Christmas, but more as a deterrent measure than to actively try to catch thieves in the act.
     
There are are total of 3,700 hectares of designated forested land within the city limits of Helsinki, and if all the forest owned by the city - in 19 other communities - is included, the figure rises to around 10,500 hectares.
      The police are also on the lookout for Christmas tree thieves, in particular the mounted officers who daily patrol Helsinki's Central Park area. Jukka Aarninsalo admits, however, that in 25 years he has managed to catch just one Christmas tree thief in the process of chopping-down-and-taking-away. This does not mean, however, that he has not seen plenty of evidence of illicit felling each year.
     
Those who feel that the only proper Christmas tree is one that has been stolen from someone else's land naturally have the alternative of lifting a tree from privately-owned woodland.
      Finland's everyman's rights may include the picking of berries and mushrooms, but cutting down a spruce tree and lugging it home is not on the menu, and a meeting with an irate local farmer might be more uncomfortable even than the made-to-measure invoice.
      The season for selling trees is well under way, and vendors can be seen on many street corners in the city's suburbs, and even in the downtown area.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finding an eco-friendly Christmas tree (21.12.2004)

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