Posted by Philip Burgess on July 17th, 2008
(Pic - Torill Kolbu) There was an interesting interview with south Sami reindeer herder Jon Anders Mortensson in Ostlendingen today. Mortensson herding area is the Elgå reindeer district in the mountainous region of southern Norway. In this region there are six herding families, in all about 35 people, herding around 3000 reindeer.
Mortensson stressed the importance of the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and that older herders don’t retire, rather play a critical role in educating the future generations.
We cannot survive with these big losses to predators, year after year. It makes me question more whether it is appropriate that my children become full time reindeer herders. Do they have a profession in the future, or will they get an education in another occupation? These questions and thoughts arise ever more frequently in my head
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Posted by Philip Burgess on June 27th, 2008
(Pic-Philip Burgess). With the coming of summer and the migration of reindeer from Finnmarks’s interior to the coast, the local media has lately been filled with stories about the reinplagen. This translates as ‘reindeer plague’, a disease which sounds deadly, but so far, only reindeer have died as a result. It relates to reindeer grazing in urban and agricultural areas where they are not welcome by farmers or some residents. The epicentre of this ‘reinplagen’ seems to be Alta and Hammerfest. Both have been in the media extensively this last two weeks.
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Posted by Philip Burgess on June 18th, 2008
(Pic - Philip Burgess, Reindeer in downtown Hammerfest) A media fury has erupted in Finnmark surrounding comments by a parliamentary representative Olav Gunnar Ballo who claimed that reindeer herders did not have the right to live and that reindeer husbandry was acting as a brake to development and that as a livelihood ‘it was just culture’. Many of these comments arose from a public meeting in Kvalsund regarding plans to expand copper mining in the area, as reported in the Reindeer Blog a few weeks ago.
The debate took a darker turn this week when 5 reindeer were found shot dead in Upper Alta in a farmers field, an event being investigated by police. The recently reappointed leader of the Sami Reindeer Herders Association (NBR/NRL) retorted that such events are the result of the inflammatory remarks by Ballo. Ballo claims that his remarks have been misrepresented. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Philip Burgess on June 14th, 2008
The annual meeting of the Sami Reindeer Herders Association of Norway has started in the southern reindeer husbandry area of Trondelag. The theme of the opening day has been mental health issues for reindeer herders, an issue that is generally overlooked, accoridng to Nils Henrik Sara, NBR leader in a report today in NRK Sami Radio. Nils Chris Danielsen , an elder herder spoke clearly and eloquently about the issues facing reindeer herders in the region, as he has seen it over the last six decades,
The whole world’s elite now come to the area. They come to areas (to ski) which we depend on in the summer. The reindeer need these areas for cooling in the summer, but the animals can no longer go there because of the skiing events. Interference is increasing. One can say that this also creates psychological problems for us,
Danielson went on to talk about the other challenges that herders face in the area,
It is important to mobilise against the construction of windmills. Moreover, the expansion of cabin building creates problems for, among other things, migration. Those who have cabins will also be hunting in these areas. This creates problems for us with dogs who will run for anything at a time when the reindeer are to have peace. In addition, power lines are criss crossing the pastures.
If these issues were not addressed, reindeer could no longer thrive, said Danielson, and without reindeer, the Sami culture could not survive.
Posted by Philip Burgess on June 10th, 2008
(Pic: Vartland) While many people would love to have reindeer gambolling through their village, it has long been a bone of contention in Hammerfest. Each summer, the reindeer migrate from Kautokeino /Guovdageaidnu in inner Finnmark to the island of Kvaloya, where Hammerfest is. Residents are tired of their flower beds being munched by reindeer and their defecatory practices. The local priest, according to an article in the Vartland newspaper has taken to erecting signs near damaged flowerbeds which read ‘A result of years of Hammerfest council saying We are Working On It’.
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Posted by Philip Burgess on June 3rd, 2008
Predation is a serious problem for reindeer herders in the spring and early summer after calving season, as young calves are particularly vulnerable to predation. Kristian Jåma, a Sami reindeer herder from Sør-Fosen in Sør-Trøndelag region said to NRK Sami Radio that he feels that his claims about predation loss are not believed. In a small area, he has lost 24 reindeer, many of which are claves to predation, particularly eagle.
I feel that Statens naturoppsyn (SNO) do not believe me because they have not come to document the carcasses before they are eaten up.
Without documentation by SNO, reindeer herders do not receive compensation. Another risk to reindeer at this time of the year, when so many reindeer are moving or have arrived in their summer pastures is traffic, with a high number of reindeer fatalities being reported along the E6, Norway’s main North South artery.
Finally, a board member of the Finnmark branch of Norway’s right wing Progress Party (FrP), currently Norway’s second largest political party has claimed in a local paper that reindeer husbandry is acting as a hindrance to industrial development in Finnmark, and went on to opine that as reindeer herders use such large areas and block development they should pay a tax on land use.
Posted by Philip Burgess on May 29th, 2008
(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 »
Posted by Philip Burgess on May 16th, 2008
(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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Posted by Philip Burgess on March 6th, 2008
(from Aftenposten) Reindeer herding in northern Norway is under constant threat from development that’s encroaching on grazing areas. Now state officials say they’ll heed warnings that reindeer operations will die out within 50 years.
“It’s a clear goal of this government to maintain today’s level of reindeer herding,” Ola T Heggem, state secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture (Landbruksdepartementet), told Aftenposten on Monday. “It will be preserved.”
This was in response to criticisms from the Sami Reindeer Herders Association about the loss of reindeer pastures due to uncontrolled cabin development.
Read the full story here.
Posted by Philip Burgess on February 19th, 2008
Reindeer from Sweden are invading reindeer herding districts in Norway as the ongoing disputes between herders in Norway and Sweden and the unresolved border issues continue, according to an article in Namdalsavisa, and it is a matter for concern for both reindeer herders and scientists. Concerns relate to the impact on the pastures and the difficulties that arise if reindeer mix. The problem is particulary severe in the Vestre Namdal reindeer herding district.
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