From March 4 to 15, the Norwegian national exercise Nordic Response will be carried out in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland with associated airspace and waters.
The exercise includes a total of just over 20,000 participants on land, at sea and in the air. The participants come from 14 nations and approximately 4,000 soldiers will be in Finnmark on the Norwegian side.
An exercise area that they have to share with nearly 80,000 reindeer, which now worries reindeer owners.
– There is nothing we can do, we have only been told that they are coming. They don’t take any account and will just drive straight over partition walls and fences, says reindeer owner Johan Ivvar Gaup to NRK Sápmi.
“That’s not right”
However, the Navy’s head of communications, Thomas Gjesdal, disagrees.
– It is not true that we will deliberately drive over fences and things that are in the way, he says.
Gjesdal also assures that the Swedish Armed Forces constantly try to avoid injuries and that they have a great focus on preventive safety work.
– But if there is a lot of snow or bad weather that causes us to accidentally run over something, we will cover the costs of the damages when they are documented.
However, Johan Ivvar Gaup is not really worried about broken fences or the like.
– The worst thing that can happen is that the reindeer get mixed up with other reindeer herds. The reindeer gravitate towards the tracks and follow where they go. They will go to areas that we don’t want them to go to.
“Should have contacted us earlier”
To avoid it, they have an option, but it is not without consequences.
– We can start the spring move early. But then the spring pasture can be grazed before calving begins, and that is not good.
Gaup is no stranger to the exercise taking place but would have liked better communication with the military.
– I think the Armed Forces should have contacted us reindeer herders earlier to find out where we are during the period they will have the exercise, says Gaup.
– We can always get better at informing and we are happy that the reindeer husbandry is getting involved, concludes Thomas Gjesdal.