Reindeer management is an old traditional livelihood in Lapland. It
constitutes an economic sector which, in addition to providing a subsistence
livelihood, has important cultural value because it is the traditional
occupation of Lapland's inhabitants. Well-suited to the ecological
conditions of the area, the skills of reindeer management are passed from
one generation to the next and are essential to both community and individual
identity.
It is well known that profitable reindeer herding has required
specialized knowledge about the environment as well as a sense of responsibility
for it. A reindeer herder is guided by his intimate knowledge of
his surroundings, and different locales require different kinds of knowledge
for appropriate management and utilization. The reindeer herder's
working environment comprises, depending on the resources, greatly varied
work settings, distinguished from each other by different names. For instance,
reindeer work is done in the "reindeer forest."
The reindeer herder is not alone in the "reindeer forest."
In addition to the traditional Lapland livelihoods -- agriculture, cattle
herding and fishing -- new users have come to the same reindeer pastures
and grazing lands. It has been possible in some instances for reindeer
herders to work in harmony with the newcomers, but freqently conflicting
interests and competition for the same natural resources create sources
of strife, which are exacerbated by the inevitable reduction in the area
reserved for reindeer herding.
This article analyzes the role played by forests and forestry
in reindeer management. The relationship between reindeer management and
forestry is ambivalent, largely because reindeer herders own forests which
they are forced to sell when income from reindeer management is insufficient
to finance the inevitable loans required for herders to subsist.
The felling of forests and the ensuing soil treatment has resulted in the
reduction of feeding grounds; reindeer herders feel that bureaucratic
and commercial forestry management plans do not take into account the needs
of the local inhabitants who have worked this land for generations.