Wildlife response underway in Norway

Five days after the Full City grounded in Norway on 31 July, things are falling into place for the wildlife response. The Norwegian Oiled Wildlife Response Network (NOW) is taking a strong lead in the organisation and coordination of the response. The Network’s activities have been recognised and approved by the authorities, resulting in the wildlife response being fully integrated into the overall oil spill response. A budget has been made available to NOW to cover the costs of the response.

“It is incredible how quickly and well things are getting organised here in Norway” says Sea Alarm’s Roser Gasol, who has been on-site since 2 August. “Everybody works so effectively together that each hour you see incredible changes. The rehabilitation centre in Langesund will soon be up and running, providing the desired capacity of at least 180 birds”.

Tasks and responsibilities have been divided between the key experts of NOW and staff meetings take place every morning to discuss progress and planning. The Sea Alarm team on site, consisting of Claude Velter, Sascha Regmann and Roser, has been seamlessly integrated into the system, providing and identifying and filling gaps.

Meanwhile, the Sea Alarm Brussels team is keeping track of developments, organising things in the background, and keeping a wider audience informed of what happens in Norway, including other response groups that are on stand-by, waiting to assist if needed.

A separate domain has been created on www.oiledwildlife.eu which is regularly updated with the latest information and photos. Further information on the wildlife response is also available at www.oiledwildlife.no  and www.wwf.no (in Norwegian) and developments on the overall spill response can be found at www.kystverket.no (in Norwegian).