FoMA's autumn meeting 2011

Press release 14 November 2011
Friends of Malmi Airport Society
Available for publication

The statutory autumn meeting of Friends of Malmi Airport Society was held on 8 November. The events of the year 2011 and the activities of the Society were recapitulated, and the economic plan and activities for the next year were presented and approved.

A new Board for the next season was also elected at the meeting. Dr. Raine Haikarainen will continue as Chairman. Mr. Ari Katajamäki has asked to retire from the Board in 2012, and will be replaced by Mr. Kai Masalin. The other retiring members of the Board were re-elected.

Representing MBS, Ilkka Lyytikäinen accepted the Certificate of Honor as recognition for the distinguished surveying and publicizing of Malmi Airport's rich avifauna. Photo: Riitta Luhtala

FoMA's Certificate of Honor awarded to birdwatchers

MaTaPuPu Birding Society (MBS) is an unofficial association of birdwatchers in the Malmi, Tapanila, Puistola and Pukinmäki area. The members of the Society have for many years observed the nesting bird populations in the airport area. In their articles and comments they have drawn attention to the exceptionally rich avifauna of the area.

In MBS surveys, many species have been observed that are rare both nationwide and especially in Helsinki. These include e.g. corncrake, long-eared owl, white-backed woodpecker, whinchat and red-backed shrike, as well as several species of waders such as great snipe, little ringed plover, northern lapwing, common snipe and curlew.

The Friends of Malmi Airport Certificate of Honor No. 8 was awarded to MBS for the valuable publicity work promoting the nature values of the airport area. Upon receiving the Certificate of Honor on behalf of MBS, Mr. Ilkka Lyytikäinen expressed his hope that in the future, the rich avifauna will be better taken into account in the maintenance of the airport area.

Wall calendar photographs taken by Sampo Kiviniemi

FoMA has for the second time published a wall calendar presenting the activities of Malmi Airport. The photographer of the 2012 calendar is Mr. Sampo Kiviniemi from Helsinki.

Sampo Kiviniemi is a 22-year-old student of land surveying and a hobby photographer. He has moved in the surroundings of Malmi Airport since childhood and taken the camera with him. Photographing the Airport stems from his interest in aviation and the elegant historical milieu of the Airport. ”I want to photograph the activities of Malmi Airport from a wider point of view and to get into my photos not just aircraft, but also surroundings and various kinds of lights”, Sampo says.

The calendar is available e.g. from Malmi Airport's Hello Cafe and also from the soon-to-be-opened FoMA netstore (www.pelastamalmi.org).

The Friends of Malmi Airport Society (FoMA) is a non-profit citizens' association founded on 23 March 2002 to support and develop the operational preconditions of the historic Airport. The Society has about 900 members. Its petition to save Malmi Airport has at the moment been signed by more than 54.000 people (www.pelastamalmi.org).