Abstract
Many traditional pastoralist systems are greatly impacted by cumulative encroachments of other land users and by climate change. Understanding land degradation and the adaptive capacity of people who are dependent on the rangelands is an urgent priority for many areas in the world. In this research we explore how changing environmental conditions affect herding strategies on winter pastures and the role of indigenous and local traditional knowledge (ILK) in Sami reindeer husbandry. Our results indicate that traditional Sami reindeer herding strategies are still practiced, but that rapidly changing environmental circumstances are forcing herders into uncharted territories where these traditional strategies and the transmission of knowledge between generations may be of limited use. For example, rotational grazing is no longer possible as all pastures are being used, and changes in climate result in unpredictable weather patterns unknown to earlier generations.
Highlights
Rangelands extend over larger areas than any other land type, and are important for food production in general and to pastoral societies in particular
Despite being situated in different reindeer herding communities spread across the country, our informants identified the same encroachments in their areas as have been repeatedly identified in other studies, including forestry, infrastructure, hydropower developments, mining, wind power development, and tourism
To answer our two research questions on strategies, we give two examples of what would be defined as traditional strategies that are described in the stories from the older reindeer herders and that were mentioned in all the interviews; one proactive and traditional strategy that has been slightly adapted to the changing circumstances, and new proactive and reactive strategies to cope with uncertainty
Summary
Rangelands extend over larger areas than any other land type, and are important for food production in general and to pastoral societies in particular. National policy relating to the conservation of large predators has increased predation pressures on reindeer (Hobbs et al 2012; Åhman et al 2014), and climate change is increasingly impacting the availability of resources necessary for reindeer husbandry (e.g., Moen 2008; Vuojala-Magga et al 2011; Löf 2013; Ims et al 2013; Turunen and Vuojala-Magga 2014; Turunen et al 2016) These encroachments have been well studied, but there is much less research on how the herders respond and adapt to these changes. Various aspects of Sami herders’ indigenous knowledge have been documented (e.g., Ryd 2001; Turi 2016), but the changes in, and transmission of, knowledge has rarely been addressed, especially in relation to landscape and climate change
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