Reindeer Blog

( 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).  [...]

(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 [...]

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 [...]

In a speech ‘Climate Change in a Polar Perspective’, in Beijing on 30th January, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said,
Firstly, Arctic climate change will alter the flora and fauna of the region. This will have serious consequences, not least for indigenous peoples. Traditional reindeer herding and the way of life of these peoples will be [...]

According to a report on the NRK Sami TV Oððasat 17.01.08, the pastures in all the Sami reindeer herding areas except Norrbotten are in a terrible condition. Due to the mild weather, ice has penetrated to the ground and covered plants and lichen with ice rendering them inedible. Reindeer owner from the Jingevarie sameby, Marianne [...]

With climate change expected to increase temperature fluctuations and variability most particularly in the Arctic, the population crash of the so called Peary caribou in the Canadian Arctic gives some insight to what happens to rangifer tarandus when pastures are locked out as a result of frequent freezing and thawing.

In northwestern North America, recent warming has [...]

Sweden will be badly hit by the effects of climate change, and should act without delay to adapt to the new reality. That was the stark message in a report presented to the government on Monday authored by Bengt Holgersson. Reindeer husbandry was singled out as a livelihood at risk and conflict between forest owners [...]

My name is Olav Mathis Eira and I am a reindeer herder from Northern Norway. I am 50 years old and have worked with reindeer my whole life. I have around 500 reindeer. My family has had this as a livelihood since the 1400s. I am married and have three sons.

According to a report in RIA Novosti,  residents in Russia’s Far North have seen a rise in polar bears wandering around Amderma village, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district, a spokesman for the local administration said Wednesday. This is within the Severnyy Brigade Number 22 pasture areas.

The Norwegian Reindeer Husbandry Administration has drawn attention to the fact that the accelerated melting of glaciers in the Seiland area of West Finnmark,  poses serious problems for reindeer husbandry and that this will continue to be a problem in the light of climate change.