The world’s fourth largest mining company Anglo American is conducting exploratory drillings in the same area in order to find nickel, copper, and gold deposits. Almost 100 people are working on samples and test drillings in the area.

The Canadian mining company First Quantum is also making exploratory drillings. The company is building a mine and an enrichment plant in Kevitsa, a good ten kilometres away from Kersilö.
The complex will cost EUR 250 million.
”The nickel and copper mine that is to be started early next year will employ nearly 300 people”, reports General Manager Reijo Uusitalo of the FQM Kevitsa Mining.

Both companies have lodged a claim application with the Finnish MInistry of Employment and the Economy in order to examine further the deposits in Sodankylä.
On the Finnish scale, the claim covers a huge area, namely roughly 400,000 hectares. In addition, four other foreign mining companies are prospecting for ore in Sodankylä.

”Sodankylä is a very promising area. We are searching for ore deposits in order that we could open one or several mines which could operate at least for the next 40 years”, says Director Jim Coppard from Anglo American, but he is unwilling to reveal any results.

Will reindeer herding face trouble when mining activities expand? Central Lapland is turning into a mining zone, stretching from Kolari through Kittilä to Sodankylä.
Kittilä is the home of Finland’s largest gold mine, while an iron ore mine is to be opened in Kolari. The industry is believed to employ at least 1,000 people in the next few years.
”Every night I wonder whether reindeer herding has any future”, says Pasi Salmi. ”The counterforce is so big that one could get depressed. Some good lichen areas were already lost under the Kevitsa mine. I wonder what Anglo American’s men will find”, Olli Pulju contemplates.

In Sodankylä, the number of reindeer owners is 578 and there are roughly 25,000 head of reindeer. The population is 8,002, which is one inhabitant more than last year.
”For the first time in 30 years, Sodankylä recorded a net migration gain. People are moving back from Southern Finland. A new apartment building is being constructed in the centre, and a new K-supermarket has been completed”, says Kauko Nurmela, the trade ombudsman of the municipality.

The mining boom can already be seen and heard. At the breakfast table in the Karhu Hotel in the centre, one can hear a buzz of English conversation. The hotel is fully booked.
All rental flats have also been reserved, even those located in remote villages, and there is a waiting list for the residences.

Today, the unemployment rate is 10 %, while in the 1990s it was as high as 32 %. Sodankylä has launched a housing programme, as on the western side of the municipality, the Swedish Lappland Goldminers is already operating the Pahtavaara gold mine, which employs more than 100 people.
”The atmosphere in Sodankylä is optimistic, as the unemployment rate has declined. I can see Kevitsa’s lights from the window of my home in Moskuvaara. I am only thinking about what will happen to the environment”, says Sini Veikanmaa, who goes to upper secondary school in Sodankylä.
Anglo American, operating in the Natura environmental protection area, has reported that it will take away all mud that comes up during drilling, while also recycling the waters of the drilling machine.
Veikko Virtanen, the chairman of the municipal board, believes that reindeer husbandry and mining can coexist in Sodankylä.

Source: Helsingin sanomat

Sami Ruismäki and his reindeer gave a sleigh ride to some children on the upper level of a parking garage in downtown Rovaniemi. The reindeer park will be open until Epiphany. Photo: TIMO LINDHOLM, Source Helsingin Sanomat

Tourism has brought reindeer to the centre of Rovaniemi. Behind the project are Rovaniemen Kehitys Oy, a company promoting tourism in Rovaniemi, and local entrepreneurs, according to a report in Helsingin sanomat.

The Sirmakko family has set up a reindeer park in downtown Rovaniemi, on the upper deck of the parking garage adjacent to the City Hotel. Cars have been removed to the floor below.
”The reindeer will be kept in the reindeer parking garage until Epiphany. Depending on the day, the number of reindeer on the adventure level will be around six”, says entrepreneur Taina Riskilä.

”Entrepreneurs and tourists alike have long wished to see reindeer in the centre of the city”, claims coordinator Risto Saukkoriipi from Rovaniemen Kehitys.

”Today’s tourism is so hectic that not all visitors have time to go to the nearest reindeer farm ten kilometres away from Rovaniemi. They are happy if they have a chance to see some reindeer for example after having been to a restaurant. Tourists’ life is evening-oriented”, Saukkoriipi argues.
According to Adjunct Professor Mauri Nieminen, who works as a senior researcher at the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, the reindeer park marks a new nadir in reindeer herding degradation.
”A parking garage full of petrol fumes is not a natural environment for reindeer but is bound to cause suffering to those animals”, Nieminen charges.

The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute has launched a study to find out how the increased feeding on farms and the constant proximity of human beings affect the disposition of reindeer.
”Farm reindeer are more domesticated. We suspect that if they are released into the wild they could more easily be hit by a car or be caught by predators”, Nieminen explains.

In the previous winter season, a total of 152,000 out of Finland’s approximately 200,000 reindeer were fed on farms or in the forest if necessary.

This being the season – it is worth revisiting this story on the Reindeer Portal that unpicks the story of Santa Claus, reindeer, and the appropriation of the cultural elements of Sami reindeer husbandry to service the needs of the tourist industry, most especially in Rovaniemi, Finland. Read the story here.

Kiviniemi had referred Elbegdorj to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre), who says that she had discussed the matter with the Mongolian President. Anttila had promised both reindeer semen and embryos to help diversify the gene pool.  President Elbegdorj also discussed reindeer during a visit on Thursday to the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (RKTL) where he was briefed by the institute’s head of research Mauri Nieminen.

“Sending semen is possible but it is not easy”, Nieminen told Helsingin Sanomat. He added that it is usually done only for research purposes.
While it is possible to artificially inseminate reindeer, there are complications involved. “Reindeer are a semi-wild animals”, Nieminen pointed out.
“It is not easy to determine when a reindeer is in heat, an especially when it reaches the climax, which is when the semen should be collected.”

This autumn’s period of heat is already over, which means that new reindeer sperm would not be available until next year. The semen would be frozen for transport.
Nieninen notes that it might actually be easier to deliver live reindeer to Mongolia than reindeer semen. Russia has sent reindeer to Mongolia in past years, and Finnish reindeer have travelled to European countries and to Japan.
Finnish reindeer are considered quite suitable for Mongolia, and should breed well. “There is only one reindeer species in the world”, Nieminen said. There are seven subspecies, one of which is the Finnish forest reindeer, and another is the North American caribou. They can all breed with each other.

Reindeer have been raised in Mongolia for thousands of years. The population is currently so small that inbreeding is a problem. There are many reasons for the decline, but the reindeer herding culture has remained. “People ride them, they give milk, they are used in fishing and hunting.”
Only a third of the Mongolian reindeer population are female, while in Finland females account for 80 per cent of reindeer. “Artificial insemination does not help if there are no female reindeer”, Nieminen points out. “Perhaps we should first go to Mongolia to check out the structure of the population.”

Mongolia is a very poor country and is relatively far away from everything. In addition to reindeer herding, it has plenty of copper and uranium resources, as well as gold and coal.
It is important for Finland that Mongolia should support Finland’s bid to become a rotating member of the UN security Council.
Presidents Elbegdorj and Tarja Halonen agreed that the countries are united by reindeer, the forest industry, and cold winters. Last winter harsh weather conditions destroyed 17 per cent of the approximately 800,000 head of cattle raised by the country’s nomads.

(Video Bruce Forbes) The Arctic Centre of Finland is Finland’s national arctic research centre. Researchers at the Arctic Centre have been carrying out research on the Yamal Peninsula with Nenets reindeer herders for many years primarily under the theme of Global Change and Land use change. Videos and Photos from this years field work on Yamal, led by Dr. Bruce Forbes can be see here

This will signal the first time that Yamal reindeer meat is imported to a country that already has a domestic reindeer meat industry.

Lapin Liha stated to the media that this was necessary as there was simply not enough reindeer meat supply in the market in Finland to meet their production goals of 40,000 reindeer per year. Currently they are processing around 24000 per year, 3000 of which come from Sweden.

Lapin Liha plan to import 200-250,000 kilos per year, all of which will come from the EU certified slaughterhouse in Yar-Sale, which was constructed by the Finnish company Kometos Oy.

Read the news release here on the Lapin Liha site.

Finland’s rare wild forest reindeer may be facing total extinction, says the Finnish Hunters` Association. The group is calling for Finland and the EU to jointly protect the wild reindeer by further regulating the population of large predators.

Both she and the reindeer herding sector face great challenges, writes the daily Lapin Kansa:

“The challenges are not insurmountable because a Finn never leaves a reindeer in the lurch. Lapland wouldn’t be Lapland without reindeers.

The reindeer herding sector will continue to be important for the economy of the north, which serves not only its own people but because of rising tourism also a growing number of customers.

For the future it is vital that reindeers and reindeer meat continue to enjoy an excellent reputation. In a world of green values it’s good to stress that reindeers which grow up surrounded by clean nature leave behind smaller ecological footprints than other ruminants.”

Source – Baltic Review

Various steps, such as spreading reindeer repellent on the roads, have been taken in an attempt to reduce the number of reindeer collisions. So far these measures have had little effect on the number of accidents.
“Today many motorists already have sat-nav devices in their cars, so harnessing this technology to warn about the reindeer might be an efficient method”, says executive manager Pertti Viik of the Reindeer Herders’ Association.
Nearly every satellite navigation device can be rigged to sound a beep to inform the driver of a police speed camera lurking by the side of the road. The thinking goes that in the same fashion, an intelligent device could warn about the presence of reindeer.

Unfortunately, unlike the cameras in their sheet metal boxes, the reindeer do not stay put.
“For this purpose the reindeer herders will notify on which road sections there are exceptionally large numbers of reindeer. For example in the spring the reindeer will not try to cross a river if the ice is too weak. At that time the animals easily resort to using roads and bridges instead”, Viik explains.
In the first phase, six of the country’s 56 reindeer herding cooperatives will take part in the experiment.
“The information will be collected by the cooperatives’ damage estimators, who then pass the information regarding the reindeer movements to Destia Traffic, responsible for maintaining the database. In the autumn it will be decided how long the individual reindeer warnings will continue to be transmitted to the navigators”, explains engineer Erkki Hulkko of the Finnish Road Administration’s Lapland Road Region.
Destia Traffic is the leading provider of commercial traffic information in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

The sums involved in reindeer accidents are not small: each year the reindeer cooperatives receive compensation of around EUR 1.5 million for livestock lost in this way. The average sum is around 700 euros, but for an animal that is used for racing, or in the tourism industry – for example pulling Santa’s sleigh – the figure can be as much as EUR 2,000. Compulsory vehicle insurance provides compensation for major vehicle damage or personal injuries.

The agreement furthermore terminates the process underway at the UN Human Rights Committee, as the Paadars will withdraw their petition to the committee.

The lawsuits, initiated in 2005, were based on the Paadars’ view that Metsähallitus’s actions within reindeer pastures were significantly weakening the profitability of reindeer herding dependent on free grazing in the Nellim area. According to the Paadars’ claim, continued logging would put an end to communal reindeer herding in Nellim. On these grounds, the Paadars demanded a court decision to prohibit logging in specified winter pastures in the Nellim area. The key issue at stake in the disagreement was the availability of sufficient winter pasture. Metsähallitus deemed the claims unfounded.

The Lappi District Court dismissed the Paadars’ motion more than a year ago, after which the Paadars took their case to the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal.

As the parties have now settled their disagreement and the court of appeal confirms this agreement, the dispute will be terminated in all courts of law.

According to the agreement, Metsähallitus will, for a 20-year period, refrain from logging operations in forests where no previous forestry operations have been carried out. Timber felling and other forest management operations may continue as normal in forests which have undergone previous forestry operations, as specified in greater detail in the agreement.

The agreement applies to standard forestry operations. Cutting of timber and land use referred to in the Skolt Sámi Act is not restricted, nor activities such as fishing, hunting or off-road traffic.

Both parties view the agreement as a significant result. “We are very pleased that this agreement was reached, making it possible to continue traditional reindeer herding in Nellim. Herding reindeer is a way of life for us, and we can now happily return to that,” comments Kalevi Paadar.

“This agreement allows Metsähallitus to work freely without disturbance and guarantees continued forestry operations also in the Nellim area, aside from the specified restrictions. This is a good compromise,” says Forestry Manager Pertti Heikkuri of Metsähallitus.

For further information, contact
Juha Mäkinen, Director of Communications, Metsähallitus, mobile: +358 40 570 9307
Pertti Heikkuri, Forestry Manager, Metsähallitus Upper Lapland, mobile: +358 400 296 613
Kirsi-Marja Korhonen, Regional Director, Metsähallitus, mobile: +358 400 300861

On behalf of the Paadars:
Johanna Ojala, attorney, mobile: +358 400 879711