The secret? The giant Markbygden wind farm — covering more than 500 square kilometres, or the equivalent of five times the size of Paris — is being built in a virtually uninhabited, desolate stretch of Sweden’s great north.

“If I were to try the same thing in Germany, it would take me 20 years to get everyone’s agreement,” Wolfgang Kropp, the German head of the project, told AFP.

Standing on the shores of the Baltic Sea at the Piteaa harbour near the wind park site, he added: “For the same area, you would have 10,000 land owners. Here there are three.

“That’s why we came here to Sweden in search of a good location,” he said.

“In the south of the country, it is very difficult. There are farms, and vacation homes. Here in the north, there is no one,” he said.

Kropp’s company Svevind, a client of German wind power giant Enercon, is leading the construction of the park, with 1,101 wind turbines scheduled to be built by 2022.

They should then produce energy equivalent to the production of two nuclear reactors.

The site stretches across a vast area covered with dense pine forests interspersed with scattered villages of just a handful of brightly painted wooden houses.

They are surrounded by silence broken only by the occasional car or a fighter jet from a neighbouring base screaming past on a training mission.

The giant wind park is widely popular here.

The main forestry, paper and metals industries in the region are facing new environmental and climate regulations requiring them to significantly shrink their carbon footprints by 2020.

That is something a change in energy dependence should help with.

“We want to turn this region into a new centre of green energy production,” said Robert Bergman of Solander Science Park, a scientific laboratory in Piteaa studying among other things the potential of wood and paper-based fuels.

The wind park project “is an obvious asset,” he added.

It is also viewed by many as a new source of income and an incentive for people to stay on in the surrounding, increasingly deserted villages.

Despite the sparse population around the park site, there are nevertheless some dissenting voices.

Most opposition comes from the indigenous Samis, who fear the towering turbines will heavily encroach on their reindeer grazing areas, already significantly hit by forestry and tourism in the area.

In late April, the local Sami council refused a compensation package of 5,000 kronor (520 euros, 630 dollars) per turbine and per year, or a total of more than five million kronor each year after the entire park has been built.

“We say no. The amount does not correspond to the problems that this will cause and the threat it poses to our herds,” Anders Ruth, who heads up the local council in Oestra Kikkejaure, said.

“The same number of reindeer will have to be fed in a much smaller area that will be much more developed,” she added.

“This will not work and it is not possible to find other grazing grounds.” About a quarter of the local Sami grazing areas would be affected by the park, Ruth said.

In an attempt to appease the criticism, the project developers have stressed they will not fence in the area, but some 600 kilometres of new roads through the dense forests will in any case dramatically shrink the area where the reindeer are free to roam.

Svevind says it understands the reindeer owners concerns, but that there is no better alternative location for the park.

“It’s true, the paper industry has already taken their forests, the dams have already taken their rivers, the mines have taken what’s underground. And now it’s the wind turbine,” said Mikael Kyrk, a Swedish Svevind executive.

“But at the same time, that’s the way development works.”

Preliminary results from Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU) by researcher Birgitta Åhman show there is a relationship between female reindeer condition, the weight of calves and calf survival. “This can help the herders in their choice of which reindeer should remain in the herd,” she says.

“Our tests confirm that the condition of female reindeer is relevant to what their calf weighs and also the calf survival. We see that calves that will be back in the fall are those that are larger in the summer,” says researcher Birgitta Åhman at SLU. ”

“We look at the reindeer’s condition and how it varies over the year and between years, and then we try to link it to management, to pasture conditions and possible disruption.”

Reindeer herders write journals to Birgitta Åhman who then sees how reindeer herding is done, when they have been to different areas, how pasture conditions are and what routes they moved. The studied reindeer are individually marked.

Birgitta Åhman says that her research can have significant benefits for herders.
“Among other things, they can choose which ones to remain in the herd. Reindeer weighing under a certain weight in the year is not so productive.”

www.sr.se/sameradion

A documentary has been made about their work and you can watch it online here.

По данным ведомства, поголовье оленей по состоянию на 1 января 2009 года составило 64825 оленей, что на 4326 голов больше, чем год назад.

Производство мяса в живой массе составило 7262,8 центнера, что на 931,8 центнера больше, чем в прошлом году. Всего было забито 11208 голов, этот результат выше прошлогоднего на 631 голову. Как отметили в Минсельхозпроде, производственные показатели могли быть и лучше, однако забойная кампания началась почти на месяц позже из-за теплой погоды в ноябре-декабре, что не позволило пригнать оленей на убой вовремя.

Лучшие показатели по производству оленеводческой продукции и сохранности оленей по итогам года у ПСК «Оленевод». Производство мяса на 100 январских оленей составило 26,6 центнера, сохранность взрослых оленей – 90,8 процента. Самый высокий деловой выход телят получен в ООО «Северный» и составил 71,1 процента.

Основная часть произведенного оленеводческими хозяйствами мяса будет реализована через торговые организации, работающие на территории Воркуты, Инты и Усинска.

Источник

The Swedish Finance and Agriculture Departments are currently discussing a solution to a shortfall in predator compensation to Swedish Sami reindeer herders, according to a story from SR.se Sameby may continue to wait for clearance on the balance of predator compensation to be paid by the Sami Parliament. The Sámi Parliament has requested more money from the government. Everything indicates that the Sami Parliament may either borrow their own money for next year, or that the Finance Ministry will agree to extend credit to the Sami Parliament for 9 million SEK (860,000 Euro). There will therefore be no extra money to cover this year’s deficit as a result of the predator compensations.

(Summary in English: The Finnish Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture has decided to pay subsidies of 1 732 261 € to cover the damages – that haven’t been reimbused in full – caused by predators to reindeer husbandry during 1.1.2007 – 31.12.2007. The Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture couldn’t pay subsidies in whole last year since the claims for damages exceeded the budget allocated for 2007. The damages made up 2,55 million euro last year, and thus reached the highest level for 20 years.)

Metsästyslain (87 §) mukaan suurpetojen aiheuttamat porovahingot korvataan talousarvion rajoissa valtion varoista. Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö on viime vuosina maksanut korvauksia porovahingoista kahdesti vuodessa ja korvaukset on pyritty maksamaan täysimääräisinä. Petoeläinvahinkojen korvaamisesta annetun asetuksen mukaan täysimääräinen korvaus tarkoittaa poron käyvän arvon korvaamista kaksinkertaisena.

Pääsäännöstä poiketen ministeriö korvasi alkuvuoden porovahingot poikkeuksellisesti yksinkertaisena, koska TE-keskuksien ilmoittamat porovahingot olivat kyseessä olevalta kaudelta odotettua huomattavasti suuremmat, joten määrärahojen riittävyydestä ei ollut varmuutta. Oikein kohdennettujen suurpetopoliittisten linjausten ja toimenpiteiden johdosta maa- ja metsätalousministeriön on nyt mahdollista maksaa vahingonkorvaukset täysimääräisenä kaikille vahingonkärsijöille.

Poronhoitoalueen TE-keskusten yhteenvetojen mukaan maasuurpetojen aiheuttamat porovahingot olivat 2007 alkuvuonna 1 650 489 euroa ja loppuvuonna 907 034 eli yhteensä yli 2,55 miljoonaa euroa. Koko vuoden osalta korvauksia haettiin kaikkiaan 4090 porosta, joka on 752 poroa enemmän kuin edellisenä vuotena.

Viime vuoden porovahingot olivat suurimmat viimeiseen 20 vuoteen tilastoidut. Vuoden 2006 porovahingot olivat 2,1 miljoonaa euroa ja vuoden 2005 vahingot 1,75 miljoonaa euroa. Vahinkojen määrä on siten kasvanut yli 20 prosenttia vuodesta 2006 ja lähes 50 prosenttia verrattuna vuoteen 2005. Viime vuonna suurpedoista ahmojen tappamiksi kirjattiin1794 poroa. Karhut puolestaan tappoivat 828 poroa, sudet 1001 poroa ja ilvekset 467 poroa.

Lisätietoja maa- ja metsätalousministeriöstä:
ylitarkastaja Jussi Laanikari, puh. (09) 160 52283, 040 733 6229

21.4.2008

http://www.te-keskus.fi/Public/?nodeid=10597&ContentList=News&area=7543

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On 10-11 December 2007 the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland will host a 2-day workshop involving key stakeholders from northern Russia, Finland and Norway. Among the participants will be indigenous representatives, oil and gas industry personnel, NGO representatives, government personnel, and a broadly international mixture of natural and social scientists.

The workshop is the final activity of the 48-month project “Environmental and Social Impacts of Industrialization in Northern Russia (ENSINOR)”, which was funded by the Academy of Finland January 2004- December 2007. The project has made comparative case studies of oil and gas activities in two key federal districts – the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YNAO). NAO and YNAO contain Russia’s most productive proven energy sources for the present and the foreseeable future and so are of particular importance to the energy security of Europe. The extensive gas and oil fields overlap with the homelands of indigenous peoples whose traditional livelihoods – reindeer herding, fishing, hunting and gathering – are at risk from changes in land use associated with petroleum exploration and exploitation, in addition to climate-related changes. As major clients and/or partners of Russian oil and gas, Finland, Norway and other Western European countries have responsibilities to see that the developments proceeds in a manner that minimizes negative impacts in the affected areas.

The project has involved partners from six academic institutes in Finland and Russia: 1. Arctic Centre, University of Lapland (coordinator); 2. Department of Geography, University of Joensuu; 3. Department of Ecology, University of Joensuu; 4. Department of Biology, University of Oulu; 5. Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; 6. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg and Labytnangi. Moreover, the project has extensively collaborated with civil society actors in the Russian regions.

The project has undertaken a thorough multidisciplinary analysis of the social and environmental consequences of energy development in the study regions. This has resulted in the co-production of knowledge that stems from different traditions among both scientists and herders and their respective ways of knowing about contemporary social-ecological systems. The workshop will encompass presentations and smaller working groups on a variety of topics, including: scientific assessments of social and environmental impacts; indigenous perspectives on arctic oil and gas development; building local partnerships and the consultation process; and issues of land tenure and legal rights. There will be invited plenary addresses given by experts from Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom. These topics are especially timely, as the Arctic Council will release its first circumpolar “Assessment of Oil & Gas Activities” in January in Tromsø, Norway.
The 2-day workshop at Arctic Centre 10-11 December has been funded primarily by Finland’s Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. StatoilHydro of Norway provides additional sponsorship. The main workshop languages will be English and Russian, with simultaneous translation between these during the plenary sessions.
A press conference will be held in the Polarium theatre, Arctic Centre at 12:30 on Tuesday 11.12.2007.
Contacts for further information:
Research Professor, Docent Bruce Forbes
Phone: +358-40-8479202 , E-mail: bruce.forbes (at) lapland.fi
Senior Scientist Florian Stammler
Phone: +358-40-0138807 , E-mail: florian.stammler (at) ulapland.fi
Scientific Communicator Riku Lavia
Phone: +358-40-0624435 , Email: riku.lavia (at) ulapland.fi
www.arcticcentre.org