Reindeer Management in Northernmost Europe

Forbes, Bruce C.; Bölter, Manfred; Müller‐Wille, Ludger; Hukkinen, Janne; Müller, Felix; Gunslay, Nicolas; Konstantinov, Yulian

doi:10.1007/3-540-31392-3

Cited by 45 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In order to maintain the viability of Arctic traditional livelihoods, adaptive and participatory forms of governance are essential. However, state adaptation budgets are often limited and decision-making power is not equally distributed (Huntington et al 2012;Landauer and Juhola 2019). This also applies to reindeer herders in Finland who bear the risks and costs of extreme weather and land use change.…”

Section: From Incremental To Transformative Adaptation In Reindeer Mamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). RM benefits from diversified and highquality pastures, i.e., ones that provide natural forage and peaceful grazing conditions Kitti et al 2006;Colpaert and Kumpula 2012;Akujärvi et al 2014). Seasonal habitat selection of reindeer is dependent on food biomass and availability (Jaakkola et al 2006).…”

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 Illustration of land use (forestry) driven changes in reindeer management towards a tipping point. In this example, capacity to adapt by means of supplementary winter feeding delineates whether the system transforms either into an alternative (modified) state of reindeer management in which regular and intensive supplementary winter feeding is practiced, or whether adaptation is not possible, and the reindeer management system is completely or locally lost (collapse) more difficult, time-consuming, and requires more labor, thus increasing costs (Kitti et al 2006;Anttonen et al 2011;Colpaert and Nykänen 2016). Seasonal pasture rotation may be hindered, and loss of peaceful pastures may also affect calving, leading to economic losses.…”

Section: Drivers and Consequences Of Change In Detailmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

2021

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Reindeer management (RM) in northern Fennoscandia is an example of social-ecological systems (SESs) providing social, cultural, ecological, and economic values. Changing climate and pasture conditions and societal changes continue to transform the operational environment of RM. These key drivers, and resulting transformations including alternative SES states, have not been studied in detail before. Our comprehensive literature review and interviews with herders reveal that land use, climate change, and governance drive the emergence of SES tipping points. The basis of successful RM depends on the quantity and quality of pastures to secure animal fitness. However, intensive forestry, extreme weather, and predators constrain the availability of forage and suitable calving grounds. Maintaining RM by means of predation compensation mechanisms and regular supplementary winter feeding to adapt to changes brought about by land use and warming climate comprises an alternative system state. However, if negative impacts increase remarkably or rapidly and compensatory mechanisms become insufficient, long-term impacts on system identity, and even local collapses, are expected. Although some environmental and societal changes are perceived as pressures by herders, they can be beneficial for other livelihoods in the region. Therefore, our study raises questions for future studies on social justice, such as who has the right to decide what constitutes a desirable system state, or what collaborative efforts to maintain RM in Fennoscandia would entail. Our work is applicable also in other Arctic/sub-Arctic regions where nature-based livelihoods, such as small-scale forestry and agriculture, hunting, traditional fishing, and gathering are practiced.

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Section: From Incremental To Transformative Adaptation In Reindeer Mamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Drivers and Consequences Of Change In Detailmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

2021

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“…Huolimatta suojelubiologiaan liittyvistä tieteellisistä epävarmuuksista, hoitoa ja käyttöä koskevat esitykset ovat olleet varsin suoraviivaisia. Tosiasiat on tulkittu tavalla, joka sallii varsin vaihtoehdottomia ratkaisuja kestävyyden saavuttamiseksi (Heikkinen et al 2007;Forbes et al 2006;Hukkinen 2006).…”

Section: Suojeluluokitukset Motiivit Ja Paikalliset Tulkinnatunclassified

Cultural Factors of Environmental Disputes in Lapland

Jokinen¹

2019

Diss. For.

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Cultural Factors of Environmental Disputes in Lapland studies the cultural meanings of Lapland's nature and its use. The focus is on the shared meanings and practices of local people and natural resource management. Social and cultural sustainability, as well as conflict management, are the basic concepts and themes permeating this academic dissertation, which is based on several case studies. The geographical focus of study is in the home district of the Saami people in Upper Lapland, but is not strictly limited to this area. The thesis consists of seven separate articles published in domestic and foreign scientific publications. The theoretical framework for the articles is anchored in the management of natural resources and environmental disputes, as well as the theories of shared cultural meanings. The data was gathered through surveys and interviews-thus the materials and methods of analysis are quantitative and qualitative. The research belongs to the field of socio-scientific environmental research. The main findings of the study stress that environmental disputes and their management in Lapland are characterised by the diversity of stakeholders that often do not share the same views. The roles and motivations of the stakeholders in environmental conflict situations are often unclear or problematic, and often no shared understanding of the nature, causes and possible consequences of the dispute can be reached. For governmental natural resource management, there has been a lack of institutional structures and processes which are culturally sensitive and socially sustainable. However, new and better practices have been introduced in recent years. In Lapland, the importance and appreciation of traditional livelihoods such as reindeer herding and subsistence-use of natural resources are emphasised. However, the cultural meanings of these land-use patterns are not adequately recognised. This thesis argues that more cultural sensitive approaches are needed in resource and environmental conflict management. In Upper Lapland, which has undergone rapid cultural transformation, the past is strongly present and explains the valuations and meanings of local people's use of nature. Nature conservation is, in particular, an important form of land use in upper Lapland. Successful and sustainable conservation should use transparent and culturally novel approaches to achieve the approval and support of the local population. In the future, nature conservation projects will be in favour of exploiting cultural information related to nature and its use, together with ecological knowledge, so that projects receive positive reception.

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Winter condition variability decreases the economic sustainability of reindeer husbandry

Pekkarinen

Rasmus

Kumpula

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Wild and semidomesticated reindeer are one of the key species in Arctic and subarctic areas, and their population dynamics are closely tied to winter conditions. Difficult snow conditions have been found to decrease the calving success and survivability of reindeer, but the economic effects of variation in winter conditions on reindeer husbandry have not been studied. In this study, we combine state‐of‐the‐art economic–ecological modeling with the analysis of annual reindeer management reports from Finland. These contain local knowledge of herding communities. We quantify the occurrence probabilities of different types of winters from annual management reports and analyze the effects of this variation in winter conditions on reindeer husbandry using an age‐ and sex‐structured bioeconomic reindeer–lichen model. Our results show that difficult winters decrease the net revenues of reindeer husbandry. However, they also protect lichen pastures from grazing, thereby increasing future net revenues. Nonetheless, our solutions show that the variability of winter conditions overall decrease the net income of herders compared to constant winter conditions. Low lichen biomass appears to make reindeer management more sensitive to the effects of difficult winter conditions. We also found that it is economically sensible to use supplementary feeding during difficult winters, but the net revenues still decrease compared to average winters because of the high feeding costs. Overall, our analysis suggests that the increasing variability of winter conditions due to climate change will decrease net revenues in reindeer husbandry. This decrease will still occur even if the most extreme effects of climate change do not occur. This study shows that combining a state‐of‐the‐art bioeconomic model and practitioner knowledge can bring compatible insights, ideas, results, and a bottom‐up perspective to the discussion.

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Reindeer Management in Northernmost Europe

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

What drives reindeer management in Finland towards social and ecological tipping points?

Cultural Factors of Environmental Disputes in Lapland

Winter condition variability decreases the economic sustainability of reindeer husbandry

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