This summer, the EU approved the Restoration Act, which means that EU countries must restore at least 30 percent of habitats that are in poor condition by 2030 at the latest.
– For Sápmi, this means restoring degraded ecosystems. This means forests, wetlands and other important habitats. This may mean that you have to remove tree species that do not belong here, such as contorta, which is a fairly widespread problem. And also other measures such as clearing overgrown pastures, says Karin Nutti Pilflykt, forest adviser to the Sami Council, in this week’s 15 minutes from Sápmi.
New research in the forest
Through a collaboration between the Sami village of Luokta-Máva and Sveaskog, researchers at Umeå University are now investigating methods to restore the lichen lands. The research is carried out in similar forests but with different strategies.
– We adapt the thinning to lichen conditions or we use an even distribution of the trees. Then we’ll see if the lichen grows better where we’ve thinned to suit the location, says Tim Horstkotte, researcher at the university.
Dense forests are also a big problem for reindeer owners. Forests that have been cleared and then regrown so that the lichen dies.
– The reindeer seem to avoid these really dense young forests. I sometimes wonder if it could be that they have such poor supervision. That it is so close. Reindeer like to watch out for dangers such as predators, says Brita Stina Sjaggo from the Sami village of Luokta-Máva.
– Densification is really our generation’s great difficulty when it comes to reindeer herding, says Anna-Maria Fejllström.
“Innovative thinking is required”
The reindeer industry has long claimed that cooperation with forestry does not work, so what is required to resolve the situation?
– It probably requires a lot of innovative thinking and a concrete dialogue between forestry and Sami villages about how to solve the situation, says Malin Brännström, director of the Silver Museum in Arjeplog.
See this week’s 15 minutes from Sápmi on Saturday at 16:05 in SVT2. Or anytime on SVT Play.