Reindeer Blog

(Pic NRK/Sami) There was a protest in Karasjok, Norway against mining company Store Norske Gull who were visiting the town to discuss their plans for mining in the region which has seen a large number of gold mining claims in the last few months. Several Sami women held signs stating ‘Sapmi Not For Sale’, ‘Meat or Gold?’, and reindeer herders asked how could gold mining exist alongside reindeer pastures. The Mayor of the town is supportive of Mining activities and the employment he claims it will bring. One reindeer herder and the former head of the NRL-NBR stated that mining was ‘good for reindeer husbandry‘.

A project has got underway in the Mittådalens Sameby in Jamtland, Sweden, which involved attaching GPS collars to 60 reindeer and 30 hunters to examine how hunters disturb reindeer. Long running negotiations between reindeer herders and property/forest  owners are continuing.

(Pic: Finnmark Dagblad)Statoil ‘bringing black rain to Hammerfest’ probably wasn’t the headlines that the oil major was hoping for days after production started at Snøhvit. Statoil’s communications Director claimed that it was ‘inevitable.’ Cars were black with soot from the plant, in what is also the summer pasture area for reindeer from inner Finnmark. Also in Hammerfest, with local election loomings, the local Labour Party has stated that reindeer that continue to come into the town should be killed, if steps are not taken by reindeer herders to remove them. The Head of the Reindeer Administration declined to comment. The issue of reindeer in Hammerfest in the summer has been a long running bone of contention between some town residents and reindeer herders as residents claim they are unsanitary and they also damage gardens. They are, however, very popular with tourists! In Kautokeino, 7000 reindeer have moved into an autumn pasture area and risk trampling the vegetation, according to a local reindeer husbandry agronomist.

Extreme statements are the norm in the runup to elections, as parties seek to stake out their place on the political landscape. The Progress Party in Kautokeino has stated that reindeer husbandry is an impediment to development in the county, which is the largest area of reindeer husbandry in Norway. This was denied in the strongest terms by representatives of reindeer husbandry. Other comments include the buying out of reindeer herders in areas effected by gold mining.

It was a disastrous year for reindeer husbandry in Sweden, with very poor pasture conditions. In the Njaarke Sameby, 60% fewer calves were born than usual. Mining issues are prevalent there too, as the Sörkaitum Sameby is appealing the decision of the Bergstaten (the Swedish Mining Inspectorate) to permit a mining concession on the villages reindeer pastures.

The difficulties of counting nomadic peoples was outlined as statistics can only be gathered when reindeer herding Nenets visit settlements twice a year according to a report yesterday in Russia Today.

(pic - BarentsObserver) As Reported in the BarentsObserver, according to Artur Chilingarov, deputy speaker in the State Duma and polar explorer, the revival of Northern Sea Route is a prerequisite for the ‘conquering of the Arctic’, as reported in RosbaltNord. In the air, Russia as been flxing its muscles as well, with exercises near the Norwegian border last week and President Putin’s ordering the resumption of long-range strategic nuclear bomber flights for the first time in 15 years over US territory. Meanwhile, gas started flowing yesterday from the Statoil Snøhvit plant in Hammerfest according to their website.

So said Frederic Hauge of Bellona on the issue of Norway’s dilemma of being an oil and gas powerhouse, to the Washington Post today. Sami President in Norway Aili Keskitalo was also interviewed and she pointed out that Sami will still be here when the oil has dried up and climate change is impacting traditional livelihoods such as reindeer husbandry in particular. The Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute claims that he was misquoted in the article, when quoted that Norway will be a beneficiary of climate change. The ‘High North’ or so it is called in political circles in Norway is receiving a lot of attention domestically and internationally and the Norwegian military are also making their own plans.

Climate change is impacting not only the ice cover in the Russian Arctic but is also changing the taste of reindeer meat according to herder Arkady Makhushkin in Kanchalan. Meanwhile in Sweden, an extensive bear hunt begins today which is in order to protect the interests of reindeer husbandry, according to Norrbotten county officials.

Norway has a small population if wild reindeer and the population has been considered at risk for some time. According to Biology Professor Reidar Andersen of the NTNU in Trondheim, climate change is threatening the remaining Norwegian stocks as its impacts are felt particularly on the winter pastures.

According to Mattilsynet (the Norwegian Food and Drug Administration) tests on reindeer meat from the Jarfjord and Svanvik area in the East Finnmark region, which is only kilometres from the Nikel nickel smelter over the Russian border have been found to contain high levels of PCB’s and Dioxins. The smelter has been a large point source of heavy metals emissions in the region for years. Although Mattilsynet stated that normal consumption amounts of reindeer meat are not a matter for concern, at risk groups should exercise caution if consuming more than the average amounts of meat from this region.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, the increased interest in mining and alternative energy sources such as wind power means more pressure on reindeer pastures according to Malin Brannstrom of the Swedish Sámi National Association.