Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

Box 7.3 Life on the Kola Peninsula – A reindeer herders perspective First person view by Andrey Dubovtsev, a Sámi reindeer herder from the Kola Peninsula, Russia, and Deputy Director of the Tundra cooperative slaughterhouse in Lujávri.

Financial support for reindeer herding in the Murmansk region is not sufficient. The constantly rising prices on petroleum,oil products,electricity,food,equipment and needed appliances limits the growth of reindeer related businesses,and therefore directly impacts the quality of our lives, restricts the development of our livelihood and threatens the maintenance of our livelihood and its traditional knowledge and culture. Climate changes are already being notedwith later slaughtering times – in the past, slaughtering was completed by December 31st, but now can reach into the month of March. It is difficult to predict the impacts of such shifts at this early stage. The challenges we face may negatively impact our traditional ways of life in the tundra, impacting Sámi biodiversity, culture and language.We see support of traditional livelihoods such as reindeer herding as being the only way to preserve traditional life on the tundra.

Reindeer herders on the Kola Peninsula face the following problems: poaching of their reindeer on the tundra and the negligence of the supervisory authorities in relation to the protection of grazing rights for their reindeer. We are very concerned regarding the situation relating to the rent of grazing lands,for example the lands of the Forest Fund.Land surveys are required and then an open competition is held.The winners are those who offer the largest sumof money.It creates an unequal playing field between those engaged in traditional livelihoods and the representatives of tourism and industry. Another major issue has been the development of salmon fishing camps for tourists on the Kharlovka, Rynda, Zolotaya and Iokonga rivers. This has impeded the Sámi traditional salmon and trout fishery and has prioritized fly fishing tourists. The Russian legislation is on the side of the camp owners, not the reindeer herders concerning this issue.

Chris Schmetz

Reindeer husbandry on the Kola Peninsula needs concerted support if it is to remain a traditional livelihood in the region

7.2.2.3 Key challenges for Sámi in Finland The key challenges for Sámi in Finland include different kinds of encroachment on traditional Sámi lands, and self- determination.The participatory rights of the Sámi have been substantially strengthened lately in the new Finnish Mining Act (Kaivoslaki, 621/2011), which includes paragraphs that protect the Sámi homeland (the municipalities of Inari, Enontekiö, Utsjoki and the reindeer herding cooperative of

Academic studies of the cultural resilience of reindeer herding in the Nenets and Yamal Nenets AO offer an interesting comparison. The institutions that administer reindeer husbandry have remained flexible, especially on the Yamal Peninsula. This has been augmented by the herders’ own considerable agency while on the tundra (particularly since the end of the Soviet Union) – even in the midst of an intense expansion of oil and gas activities (Forbes, 2013).