Reindeer Blog

(Source: Helsingin Sanomat) In-car satellite navigation systems will start issuing warnings of possible reindeer on Finnish highways. The experiment set to start this autumn relates to a Ministry of Transport and Communications project, the aim of which is to cut the number of reindeer accidents in half.
Reindeer may not have the bulk and potentially lethal [...]

(Source – Metsähallitus / NRK Sami Radio) Metsähallitus and three Sámi reindeer herders from Nellim in Finnish Lapland have settled their disagreement, formerly under review in various courts of law and the UN Human Rights Committee. An agreement between Metsähallitus and Kalevi, Eero and Veijo Paadar specifies which state-owned lands in Nellim are to be available [...]

Reindeer meat from Finnish Lapland is now recognized in the EU as a product with a high level of quality and as a traditional product. This means that reindeer meat from Lapland in Finland was added to the regulation of Parma ham and other similar products, among which is a protected designation of origin (PDO). 
The [...]

(Pic. Helsingin Sanomat) Three Sami reindeer herders from Nellim, in Northern FInland have just lost their case against the Finnish state forestry giant Metsahallitus in the Lapland District Court. The reindeer herders argued that the logging practices of Metsahallitus was destroying reindeer pastures – ground lichen and hanging tree lichen and were not only [...]

( 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).  [...]

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 – [...]

(Wolverine – Gulo Gulo) The number of reindeer killed by predators rose sharply last year. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reimbursed reindeer herders more than two and a half million euros for lost livestock, the highest figure in 20 years.
The figure was one-fifth higher than the year before. Herders sought recompense for more than [...]

(From Helsingin Sanomat, March 2, 2008) ”…It is not immediately apparent that Nellim is a place where the three most enduring disputes of northernmost Finnish Lapland converge: the conflict over the use of forests, disagreements over land ownership and the rights of the Sami people, and the dispute over reindeer husbandry. All of these are interlinked.  [...]

By STEPHEN CASTLE / The New York Times SUOMUSSALMI, Finland — Close to the tiny Finnish village of Saaravaara, bloody tracks lead through the snow to the frozen carcass of  an 8-month-old male reindeer lying on its side, its neck torn, its  underbelly ripped open.
Within minutes, Ilmari Schepel, a local agriculture official, identified the culprit: a wolf. [...]

Due to the unseasonably mild winter conditions, including several days of rain and snow free conditions across the northern reindeer herding districts of Finland (Utsjoki, Inari and Enontekio) round ups were delayed in many reindeer herding cooperatives according to Lapin Kansa (30.12.2007), the regional newspaper.  In some cases, delays of up to a month were recorded.
The delays [...]