Reindeer Blog

(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 [...]

Watch a documentary on the struggle between reindeer herders and the industrial logging practices of Stora Enso in the Sami area - particularly in the old growth forests of Inari, Northern Finland, which are key winter grazing pastures of reindeer herders who are attempting to herd using traditional methods. The documentary is a production of [...]

(Pic - Statens Naturoppsyn) Last week, the Green Warriors of Norway (Norges Miljøvernforbund) a Bergen based environmental organization announced that “Reindriftsnæringen svindler staten for rovdyrerstatning” , that reindeer husbandry was swindling the state over predatation compensation and called for an investigation. The Vice Chair of NBR NRL (the Sami Reindeer Herders Assn. of Norway) welcomed the call for [...]

(Pic - Helsingin Sanomat)The coverage of the force slaughtering case in Nellim received attention from the UN according to a report in Helsingin Sanomat. A letter was sent and signed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen of Mexico, as well as Pakistani Hina Jilani, [...]