Forestry Conflicts in Finnish Sápmi: Local, National and Global Links

The official status of the Sámi as the indigenous peoples of Finland has been recognised in Finnish legislation since the early 1990s. The right of the Sámi to practice their culture is enshrined in the Finnish constitution (1999), and in this context Sámi culture has been understood to include traditional Sámi livelihoods, such as reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. In addition to the constitution, the Reindeer Husbandry Act (1990/848) and the Act on Metsähallitus (Finnish Forestry and Parks Service, 1378/2004) give reindeer herding – and Sámi reindeer herding in particular – relatively robust protection. Finland has also ratified Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires recognition of the cultural rights of ethnic minorities. Applied in Finland, this requires the Finnish state to protect and give recognition to the rights of the Sámi to practice traditional indigenous land uses, such as reindeer herding. In concrete terms, the national and international regulations require that reindeer have free access to grazing lands irrespective of land ownership, and that other uses of state-owned land should not be practiced in a way that “significantly hinders” reindeer herding (Reindeer Husbandry Act (1990/848)).