Reindeer Blog

(Map showing extent of one claim in Kvalsund - Wega Mining) At a public meeting in Kvalsund, northern Norway, a full frontal attack on reindeer husbandry was launched by one of the parliamentary representatives for Finnmark, Olav Gunnar Ballo. The meeting had been called to discuss the issue of mining in the region where the international mining company Wega Mining has applied for permission to expand mineral mining, with the support of the local mayor and the majority of participants. Wega owns 18% of Nussir ASA which has the permit to mine what is believed to be Norway’s largest copper deposits at Nussir and Repparfjord. Ballo criticised reindeer husbandry for being subsidised, not moving with the times and standing in the way of development. The clip has also been televised. Ballo’s comments gained a lot of media exposure. The head of the Sami Reindeer Herders Association of Norway (NBR), Nils Henrik Sara was shocked and alarmed at Ballo’s comments, especially as he is sitting in the national parliament. 

Reindeer herder Mikkel Nils A. Sara stressed that reindeer herders were not against development… Read the rest of this entry »

( Picture and original article: Metla) Kevät on aikaistunut viimeisen vuosikymmenen kuluessa Keski- ja Pohjois-Suomessa kahdella viikolla ja Etelä-Suomessa viikolla. Tulokset ilmenevät Metlan tutkimuksista, jotka on julkaistu kahdessa kansainvälisessä sarjassa.

(Brief summary in English: Spring comes two week earlier in Finnish Lapland than ten years ago. This appears from the recent research made by Finnish Metsätutkimuslaitos (Metla).  Phenology, like formation of leaves and blooming of birch, aspen, hagberry, and hawthorn as well as blueberry and lingon was investigated for research. The rhytmic of plants reflects the temperature of air and changes in it. That is why phenological research is important when investigating the progress of climate change.)

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(Iceland -Original story Morgunbladid mbl.is) 

The staff at East Iceland Natural History Institute is quite busy these days making reindeer calves and counting wild reindeers in the eastern part of Iceland. One staff member was lucky to get away alive when a reindeer attacked him. Read the rest of this entry »

(Pic Barents Observer) With soaring energy prices, alternative energy from domestic sources are increasingly of interest to nation states. Espcially if they are touted as being ‘green’ (low CO2 emissions) and are promoted by state subsidy programs.

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(Source - Ed Struzik, The Province, see below) Warm, wet winters and hot, dry summers reduce numbers. In the summer of 1996, biologist Frank Miller was flying along the coast of Bathurst Island searching for Peary caribou, found only in the High Arctic of Canada, when he spied a dark spot on the sea ice.

Flying in for a look, he could see these animals were not the caribou he was looking for. They were muskoxen. The circle of animals didn’t bolt. Miller got the pilot to land a few hundred metres away. Even as he approached on foot, the herd didn’t flinch. As he moved closer, it dawned on him — they were all dead. The animals were frozen stiff and leaning against each other like statues.

“It was one of the most strange and gruesome things I’d ever seen as a biologist,” the Edmonton researcher recalls.

“They were probably on their last legs and starving when they headed out across the sea ice searching for better food conditions on another island.” Read the rest of this entry »

Sami reindeer herder Olav Mathis Eira was in London recently to make a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister.

“Climate change is threatening our economy as reindeer herders. Because this is part of our traditional way of life, if the economy goes, probably the entire Sami culture would go with it.”

The story was covered in the London Independent, Read the rest of this entry »

Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö on päättänyt maksaa 1 732 261 euroa korvauksia loppuvuonna (1.7-31.12.2007) aiheutuneista porovahingoista sekä alkuvuonna (1.1. - 30.6.2007) aiheutuneista porovahingoista siltä osin kuin niitä ei vielä oltu korvattu täysimääräisesti.

(Summary in English: The Finnish Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture has decided to pay subsidies of 1 732 261 € to cover the damages - that haven’t been reimbused in full - caused by predators to reindeer husbandry during 1.1.2007 - 31.12.2007. The Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture couldn’t pay subsidies in whole last year since the claims for damages exceeded the budget allocated for 2007. The damages made up 2,55 million euro last year, and thus reached the highest level for 20 years.)

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(Photo: Mette Randem) International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry Director Anders Oskal accompanied Lars Kullerud (University of the Arctic) and Dagbladet journalist Andreas Viestad and photographer Mette Randem to Salekhard, the capital of the Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug. One outcome was the below article on Nenets, reindeer husbandry and food. See below for a Reindeer inspired carpaccio..

….Av alle cowboybyer i hele Vest-Sibir, må Schuch’ye være en av de røffeste. Det er i hvert fall det mest eksotiske stedet jeg har vært, på en ekte villvestmåte. Først våkne opp i Salekhard, den oljerike administrasjonsbyen ved utløpet av Ob-elva hvor skiltene henger skeivt på skeive hus, og smilene er så godt gjemt at det kan virke som om folk ikke helt har kommet seg etter Andropovs plutselige død. Så kjøre i en time på humpete veier over permafrosten, og deretter klyve over i en beltebil, som i tre lange og støyende timer arbeider seg utover på Yamal-halvøya. Read the rest of this entry »

It is well known that the Yamal Peninsula is not only the source of much of Europe’s current and future energy resources (and as a result is of enormous strategic importance to Russia), but it is also the home of the world’s largest area of reindeer husbandry.   A major piece of puzzle is infrastructure development, which in the case of the Bovanenkovo field, is being reached by railway, a railway which crosses the migration routes of several reindeer herding brigades. And rivers: The longest railway bridge in Russia is due to be finished by 2009, across the Yuribey River as part of this giant project. You can watch a short video about the project here.

(Picture Eric Post)  Global warming may be the reason for a decrease in the number of caribou calves being born in West Greenland, U.S. researchers said.Biologist Eric Post said data show the timing of peak food availability no longer corresponds to the timing of caribou births, the university said Friday in release. 

The study, conducted in collaboration with Mads Forchhammer at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, will be published in the July issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

With temperatures rising, pregnant females find that the spring plants on which they depend to survive have already begun to decline in nutritional value. Post said the plants are peaking dramatically earlier.

“Spring temperatures at our study site in West Greenland have risen by more than 4 degrees Celsius over the past few years,” he said. “As a result, the timing of plant growth has advanced, but calving has not.”

Source:  Copyright 2008, United Press International
Date:  May 2, 2008
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