Reindeer Blog

– Reindeer Husbandry is the big loser in the Norwegian media, said Nils Henrik Sara, the leader of the Association of Norwegian Sámi Reindeer Herders (NRL), at a media seminar that was held in Kautokeino Saturday 14th of November. Sara says reindeer husbandry not been able to reach out with their opinions or what they [...]

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre will exploit Swedish leadership role in the EU and the Barents co-operation to get wider European interest in the North and the Arctic. – From a Norwegian point of view, it is interesting that Sweden in a few month, have the Presidency of both EU and Barents Cooperation. Wednesday [...]

Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Tromsø defended earlier this year his doctoral thesis: “Risk-sensitive reproductive strategies: the effect of environmental unpredictability” for the degree of PhD. The thesis explains how reindeer can handle negative climatic variations wintertime by changing their behavior. Build fat reserves. www.nrk.no/sami

On Wednesday, October 7th, the Ministers of Agriculture in Norway and Sweden signed the new Norwegian-Swedish Reindeer Grazing Convention. The Convention contains provisions for how reindeer herding is conducted over the border. The background to the negotiations is that the 1972 Reindeer Grazing Convention expired in 2005 and had to be replaced with a new [...]

In northern Norway, each year, reindeer migrate from the interior to the coast in an ancient movement coupling animals and people. In contemporary times, with dramatically increased settlement and development on the coast this has meant that summer brings stories of conflict between reindeer husbandry and cabin dwellers, farmers, mining interests, municipalities and others. Unfortunately, [...]

Another sign of the month of May in Norway, particularly in the North, is that reindeer are now on the coast. Expect a series of articles in the local media about reindeer being a problem in coastal villages and the ongoing conflict between farmers and reindeer herders in some North Norwegian communities to reemerge after [...]

Wind power, power lines and hydroelectric power development in the years ahead may lead to new huge encroachments in the Sámi reindeer herding areas in Norway. Around 260 such projects are now being examined in the offices of the  Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), according to a story in today’s NRK Sami Radio. The [...]

There has been a widespread debate in the pubic sphere in recent months, regarding predator losses suffered by reindeer herders in Norway. There is a widespread perception that reindeer herders exaggerate their losses and in some cases falsify predator claims in their claims for compensation. This has primarily been led by environmental organisations, but also [...]

A proposal on a new convention on cross-border reindeer grazing between Norway and Sweden is now completed. The two countries’ negotiating delegations finished their work in Stockholm 24 February, and the negotiation results are now submitted to Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Norway and the Agriculture Ministry in Sweden for further follow-up.

This is the reindeer racing season in the Sami area. Reindeer racing is a popular sport in northern Norway, Finland and Sweden. Most of the racers and owners are Sami and the races are the highlights of local sporting and cultural events, such as Sami National Day (Feb 6th) and the various Easter festivals. Reindeer [...]