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

pretense ) and perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) are the most important forage grasses, and in cold and snow-rich regions, timothy out-competes perennial ryegrass due to better winter survival (Höglind et al., 2013). Altogether, the area of ley increases northward, for instance in Finland, the proportion of ley in terms of total field area was 40% in North Ostrobothnia in 2014, but 84% in Lapland province. Most of the Barents area is unfavorable for cereal production, although barley and oats are cultivated in the south, for example in North Ostrobothnia. Structural change in farming has been rapid in northern Fennoscandia, among other reasons due to globalization and competition from dairy and food production in other areas. The changes are even more pronounced in agriculture than in the other resource sectors. Many young people are choosing not to follow their family into farming but to seek employment elsewhere, especially in regional centers (Wuori, 2013).While the total number of farms is declining, the average size of farms is increasing, shifting from the traditional multifunctional farm into more specialized and technologically-driven entrepreneurship (Jordbruksverket, 2015; Luke statistics, 2015; StatBank Norway, 2015). Nevertheless, northern agriculture especially in Norway is still a mixture of large-scale commercial and household production (Hovelsrud et al., 2011). Farms in the north of Russia are also still small, family-sized operations with an average of 30 hectares of land and 25 dairy cattle.This small- scale production may capitalize on trends for small-scale local food production, the importance of local cuisine for tourism, and potentially also local, regional and national food security in a changing world (e.g. Rikkonen et al., 2013). 2.3.8 Shipping, fisheries and aquaculture Much of the shipping in the Barents area is related to fishing, which takes place year-round in the ice-free parts of the Barents Sea. Up to 1600 fishing vessels are involved each year (Arctic Council, 2009), with around 5000 ships in total operating within the Barents Sea (Arctic Council, 2009; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2014; NNCA, 2015). In 2014, there were 3451 ship crossings of the delimitation line between Russia and Norway in the Barents Sea, similar to the number in 2012 (3823) and 2013 (3464). Shipping requiring pilotage to and from ports in the counties of Troms and Finnmark (9344 cases in 2014) and Nordland (8693 cases) (NNCA, 2015). The Barents Sea is important in connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Siberia and continental Europe, and the landmasses between the big Siberian rivers that stretch more than 2000 km south from the Arctic coast to the Trans-Siberian railway.The Barents Sea is home to the Russian Northern Fleet, which uses the Barents area waters both as an operational area and as a transit area from its base on the Kola Peninsula to other oceans, ice-infested oceans as well as blue waters.The number of fishing-vessels-days in the Barents, White and Pechora Seas was estimated at 50,000 to 100,000 in 2004 (Arctic Council, 2009).

regulated by several regional legislative acts designed to support a mixed economy. Regional legislative efforts over the past decade have encouraged the formation of traditional forms of economic and social self-governance ( obschinas ) (Stammler and Wilson, 2006; Forbes et al., 2009; Kumpula et al., 2011; Forbes, 2013). Conflicts between reindeer herding and other land-use interests are handled differently in each of the four countries. Under Norwegian law (Mining Act), due consideration is required to safeguard Saami culture. In Sweden, reindeer husbandry does not have a special position in terms of land- use assessment, except in the northernmost areas which are designated as Saami areas. In Finland, reindeer herding takes priority in 20 northernmost reindeer herding cooperatives of which 13 are Sámi cooperatives. In the area specifically intended for reindeer husbandry, state land should not be used in such a way that it causes harm to reindeer herding (Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2000). The proportion of protected areas (e.g. national parks) in this region is large, allowing free grazing of reindeer but limiting other land use (e.g. forestry) (there are also no mines in this area). In other parts of the reindeer husbandry areas, reindeer herding is one of several land-use interests that must be considered in, for example, the licensing process for mining operations. Among the land-use interests to be considered under Swedish law (the Environmental Code), mining has one of the strongest positions (e.g. Pettersson et al., 2015). In Russia, reindeer husbandry is considered part of agriculture and is regulated as such, although special status may be granted following the declaration of reindeer herding as a traditional livelihood. 2.3.7 Agriculture Agriculture (with the exception of reindeer herding where it is classified as such) currently constitutes a relatively small component of the nature-based sectors in the Barents area. Not least because agriculture has also been affected by the same trends in technological and other developments, further limiting the already low levels of employment in agriculture. Overall, only a small percentage of the total labor force is engaged in agriculture. About 15% of the total agricultural labor in Finland occurs in the northern part of Finland. In Karelia, agricultural land is 1.1% of total land area, 2 in Sweden the respective figure is less than 6% and in Norway about 10% (Wuori, 2013). Agriculture is mainly based on animal husbandry, especially dairy, beef, goat and sheep farming (Jordbruksverket, 2015; Luke statistics, 2015; Murmanskstat, 2015 3 ; StatBank Norway, 2015). In Karelia, 16.2% of the total agricultural land was used for crop production in 2013 and basic agricultural production is concentrated mainly in the south (PwC, 2014; The Official Karelia 2014). In northern Fennoscandia, grassland and forage cropping dominate land under cultivation in order to sustain ruminant production systems such as dairy farming and cattle and sheep production, although potatoes, vegetables and berries are also cultivated. Timothy ( Phleum

2 http://vedlozero.ru/knowledge/karelia/economy/1191-agriculture.html/ 3 http://murmanskstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/murmanskstat/ru/municipal_statistics/main_indicators/

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