The Finnish government has taken active measures to ensure the survival of all major livelihoods in Upper Lapland and finding a solution to the land use questions is seen as essential. The state has undertaken various studies to determine the rights of the local inhabitants to the land, the waterways and the natural resources, and has evaluated various proposals to develop the administration.
Latest research reveals that Finland has treated all inhabitants of Lapland in an equal manner and has not differentiated between groups of different ethnic or cultural origin. “There is no basis for increasing the land ownership rights of the Sámi, especially as they stand at the moment,” said Matti Enbuske, a researcher from the University of Oulu. “The same rights should be extended to the majority of other people living in Lapland. Large-scale reindeer herding does not warrant such rights in preference to other livelihoods either.”
At present, tourism, forestry and reindeer husbandry are all essential in securing the living conditions of the local inhabitants in Lapland. A recent independent study showed that the majority of local people nowadays see it as essential that all local livelihoods are needed and should continue to be accommodated as they have been for centuries.
Finnish constitution
The Sámi people’s rights to their traditional livelihood, reindeer herding, have been guaranteed in the Finnish constitution. Reindeer herding is an important part of Sámi culture, but about half of the reindeer herders in that region are Finns. For centuries, the Sámi, as well as other local inhabitants, have practised the same traditional livelihoods: reindeer herding, forestry, hunting and fishing and, nowadays, tourism in Lapland. The general change in the economic structure has reached the north, too, over the past few decades. Today, the Sámi enjoy the same livelihoods as other local inhabitants. The Finnish state is working actively to keep all these livelihoods viable.
Metsähallitus – the organisation responsible for state forests – revised the natural resource plan for state-owned lands in Upper Lapland in November. The ratification of the new natural resource plan protects 90% of state-owned lands and 53% of forest lands. The reduced felling volume and planned land-use solutions provide greater flexibility where harvesting can be carried out, making it easier to reconcile forestry with other forms of use such as reindeer husbandry. All Metsähallitus logging, including the sites, amounts and practices used, are decided in the natural resource planning process in which all willing local stakeholders participate.
These land-use solutions reduce Metsähallitus’ logging plan in the municipality of Inari in Upper Lapland from the 150,000m3 outlined in the original 2001 natural resource plan to 115,000m3. This will, according to research carried out by the Finnish Forest Research Institute, mean a reduction of jobs in the forestry and woodworking industry equivalent to around 20 person-years. All in all, since the 1980s, harvesting on state-owned lands has been reduced from over 200,000m3 to roughly a half.
If the level of state forestry operations recedes under the critical line, local sawmills would have to close. This, in turn, would mean that the local private forest owners – Sámi and Finns alike – would face the risk of losing the source of income from selling their own wood as well.
“Our forestry complies fully with the requirements for sustainable development,” said Metsähallitus deputy director-general Hannu Jokinen. “Local presence and service are manifest aspects of our operations throughout Lapland. Local renewable raw materials are processed locally, using local labour.”
Environmental objectives
In line with its environmental objectives, Metsähallitus is aiming to improve socio-cultural sustainability. Social development must strive to create equality. A basic premise of local culture is that everyone has the right to live and work in their own home district. In the municipality of Inari, Upper Lapland, 200 people out of a population of 7,000 are employed in forestry.
“Without forestry, Lapland would be a cold place for tourists, too,” said Mr Jokinen. “The forests keep Lapland populated and welcoming, also by maintaining the road infrastructure. The diversity of nature is assured in these northern regions, as attested to vividly by the fact that the EU approved the inclusion of Sweden’s and Finland’s alpine areas, of which Upper Lapland is a part, in the Natura 2000 network.”
