167
7
Reindeer pastoralism is based on a pattern of seasonal migrations. In Finnmark,
these migrations take place between the mountainous winter pastures of the inland,
which are dominated by lichen, and the green summer pastures on the coast
(. Fig. 7.2). Annual migrations from winter to summer pastures can extend as far
as 200–300 km in each direction.
Since reindeer husbandry is practiced on 40% of the land area in Norway, there
are a number of land-uses that compete with this activity, such as mining, windmill
parks, municipal and state-led development of infrastructure, recreation activities
and conservation of carnivores. These competing land-uses have strong advocates,
for example, in the Parliament, who see reindeer herding as an obstacle, which needs
to be reduced in order to continue to develop Norwegian society. On the other hand,
reindeer husbandry has hardly ever been represented in the Parliament.
Nevertheless, the notion that Sámi reindeer herders keep an excess of animals is
not new. Since the end of the nineteenth century, the state has periodically aimed at
reducing reindeer populations. Initially, this was principally justified by the need to
minimize land-use conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers. However,
during the last few decades, the size of the reindeer population has been restated as
being primarily an environmental problem, a matter of overstocking, and the ecological impact of excessive reindeer populations. With the increased focus on environmental issues in the 1970s and 1980s, terms, such as ‘overgrazing’, moved to the
fore in Scandinavian research on reindeer management (Pape and Löffler 2012).
Along with this increased attention, the matter of excessive reindeer was also progressively configured as a technical problem, to be solved through managerial interventions (Reinert 2012; Johnsen and Benjaminsen 2017).
. Fig. 7.2 Summer and winter pastures in Finnmark, Northern Norway. (Source: Benjaminsen et al. 2015)
7.1 · Debates About Overgrazing
7
Reindeer pastoralism is based on a pattern of seasonal migrations. In Finnmark,
these migrations take place between the mountainous winter pastures of the inland,
which are dominated by lichen, and the green summer pastures on the coast
(. Fig. 7.2). Annual migrations from winter to summer pastures can extend as far
as 200–300 km in each direction.
Since reindeer husbandry is practiced on 40% of the land area in Norway, there
are a number of land-uses that compete with this activity, such as mining, windmill
parks, municipal and state-led development of infrastructure, recreation activities
and conservation of carnivores. These competing land-uses have strong advocates,
for example, in the Parliament, who see reindeer herding as an obstacle, which needs
to be reduced in order to continue to develop Norwegian society. On the other hand,
reindeer husbandry has hardly ever been represented in the Parliament.
Nevertheless, the notion that Sámi reindeer herders keep an excess of animals is
not new. Since the end of the nineteenth century, the state has periodically aimed at
reducing reindeer populations. Initially, this was principally justified by the need to
minimize land-use conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers. However,
during the last few decades, the size of the reindeer population has been restated as
being primarily an environmental problem, a matter of overstocking, and the ecological impact of excessive reindeer populations. With the increased focus on environmental issues in the 1970s and 1980s, terms, such as ‘overgrazing’, moved to the
fore in Scandinavian research on reindeer management (Pape and Löffler 2012).
Along with this increased attention, the matter of excessive reindeer was also progressively configured as a technical problem, to be solved through managerial interventions (Reinert 2012; Johnsen and Benjaminsen 2017).
. Fig. 7.2 Summer and winter pastures in Finnmark, Northern Norway. (Source: Benjaminsen et al. 2015)
7.1 · Debates About Overgrazing