Wetlands in Sápmi

The three-year-long project "Arctic Wetlands Ecosystems- Resilience through Restoration & Stewardship," led by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), focuses on human impact on Arctic Wetlands and how we can build resilience in a rapidly changing Arctic.

The Saami Council is the lead for one of five work packages focusing on Indigenous Knowledge and the use of reindeer pastures.

 The work package "Wetlands in Sápmi" wants to highlight the forest-based reindeer husbandry which only exists on the Swedish side of Sápmi, their need of connectively and functional wetland areas with adjacent forests. Furthermore, we want to show how other land users, such as forestry, mines, wind parks, other infrastructure etc., threaten the traditional reindeer husbandry.

After the pandemic, we have finally been able to start the data collection we have planned. The forest reindeer herding communities Vittangi and Malå are our project partners, and we have visited them and carried out the workshops. We have discussed past, present and future use of reindeer pastures and we look forward to the results of the project that we aim to finish in early Spring 2023.

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and the National Union of the Swedish Saami People (SSR) are other project partners. Belmont Forum and the Pawanka Fund finance the project.