The forest dispute
Background
The conflicting land use interests of reindeer herding and forestry in this forest border area have raised that much media interest both on a national and international level that it is fair to call it a forest dispute. After years of debate there is still no solution that would ensure the prerequisites of reindeer herding as stipulated by law.
The basic elements of reindeer husbandry are the reindeer, nature and man. The reindeer are out in the wild for the whole year. The life of the reindeer, the schedule of the herder, the working methods and income are all defined by the weather. Still, reindeer husbandry is not a wild or uncontrolled activity, but as regulated with the Finnish law and EU directives as agriculture. The difference to agriculture is that reindeer owners do not own the land on which the reindeer graze. This is a great right, but it can cause a hazard. The grazing grounds have other users and other forms of land use can impede reindeer herding.
The Association of Reindeer Herding co-operatives says in the Finnish Reindeer Husbandry Programme for 2000-2006: "large scale forestry, energy production with its artificial water reservoirs, tourism, traffic and its development, mining, peat production, the army and other forms of land use take over, diminish and fragment reindeer pastures and interfere with reindeer herding in many ways".
The Association is also pointing out that although the other forms of land use cause an increased workload and expenses to reindeer herding, this is not compensated in any way.
In Inari the other forms of land use that interfere with reindeer herding include forestry, tourism (building, snow mobiles, husky safaris and fences), hunting, nature protection (parks, wilderness areas and predators) and mining. A working group set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has agreed in its memo of 1998 that the biggest impact on pastures is caused by forestry.
The biggest land owner in Inari is the state, which governs over 91% of the land area. As a result, the Finnish state forestry enterprise (Metsähallitus) in its dual role as both the responsible authority and a land user, is responsible for most of the competing use of pastures. Some private activities may also affect reindeer herding. The effect these actions have on reindeer herding depends on their nature, location, timing, amount and the traces they leave.
The world has gotten smaller in the last decades. The earth has become one global village in which all corners can be easily reached. Any solvent organisation can use any natural resources anywhere in the world. This shows also in Inari. Our "empty", pathless and uninhabited "wilderness" has more and more other users than reindeer. Preserving the area and quality of reindeer pastures is no longer a question of adaptation but of survival, because also the reindeer and their herders belong to global village where self- sufficiency no more is enough and money is needed in order to survive and to be a member of the society.
The reindeer herding co-operatives of Inari have been mentioned often by the media in the context of the discussion about forestry on state land. The co-operatives started publicising their comments about the harmful effects of forestry on reindeer herding. Presenting these views in local level negotiations with Metsähallitus has not affected the fact that the forest area useable for reindeer herding is constantly diminishing because of logging.
Metsähallitus acts as the government authority reconciling the needs of reindeer herding and forestry. But it being an independent state-owned enterprise and thus lacking the legal status of public authorities, it is not possible to make a formal complaint of its decisions. Court cases are the only option. For this reason the Muotkatunturi co-operative sued Metsähallitus about loggings of winter pastures in 1993. The process is still ongoing in the United Nations Council for Human Rights. (More about the subject in Finnish: Martin Scheinin and Taina Dahlgren (ed.): Toteutuvatko saamelaisten ihmisoikeudet [Do the human rights of the Sámi realise]. Helsinki 2001, Yliopistopaino).
In spring 2002 the herding co-operatives of Hammastunturi, Muddusjärvi, Muotkatunturi and Paatsjoki, as well as the Nellim herd group from the Ivalo co-operative, sent their representatives to Helsinki to bring the message personally to the ministers. The group had prepared a memorandum about the importance of natural pastures in reindeer herding, the impact of other forms of land use and the status of reindeer herding in the national legislation and in practice. The memorandum was personally submitted to the minister of agriculture and forestry, the minister of justice, the minister of state finances and to the environmental ministry.
The paper proposes that future loggings on state land would be directed to forest areas that have been used for forestry before, instead of old growth forests. Instrumentally the financial objectives of Metsähallitus would need to be lowered so that this exclusion is possible. The environmental NGOs Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and Greenpeace gathered information from the co-operatives so that these old growth forest areas could be identified and marked on a map. The NGOs also agreed to bring forward the co-operatives' views in discussions and events where they try to influence forest protection plans.
On the same spring of 2002, the minister for agriculture and forestry, Raimo Tammilehto, appointed an arbitrator to look at the reconciliation of the needs of forestry and reindeer herding. Based on the propositions of the arbitrator Pirkko Saarela and on the multiple comments received on the proposal, minister Korkeaoja of the new government had an action plan prepared, to be implemented starting at the beginning of 2004. The plan comprises legislative actions (related to the land rights of the indigenous Sámi as well as to changes to the Act on Metsähallitus), research plans and the revision of Natural Resource Plan for Upper Lapland in November 2004, ahead of the original schedule by Metsähallitus.
Metsähallitus invited the herding co-operatives to negotiations about the loggings on the last day of the year 2003. The co-operatives stuck with their original proposal that was included in the memorandum of 2002. Metsähallitus could not accept such a change in their planned action, so the negotiations ended fruitless in February 2004.
Before the completion of the new Natural Resource Plan Metsähallitus is logging in Inari according to its original plans. Of the areas identified by the co-operatives and the Nellim herd group to be left outside forestry measures, Metsähallitus is logging at least in Nellim, Kessi (Paatsjoki co-operative's area), Kirakka (Hammastunturi co-operative's area) and Paadarskaidi (Muotkatunturi co-operative's area).
Appendices
Links open in their own windows. From newest to oldest:
- The negotiation mandate of Metsähallitus inadequate
Inari reindeer herding co-operatives' press release, 10th June 2005 - About the impacts of state forestry towards our reindeer herding and proposals for correcting the situation: A letter to the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of the Environment, 20th-21st of March 2002