Kalstad, Johan Klemet. 1995. "The Management of Reindeer Pastures in Northern Fennoscandia." Presented at "Reinventing the Commons," the fifth annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bodoe, Norway, May 24-28, 1995.

Abstract

"Sami people in the northern Fennoscandia keep reindeer as semi-domestic animals. Ownership of the animals is individual while animals are kept together in herds in common pastures.

"The herders move around with the herd between the inland and the coast according to the seasonal grazing conditions. The summer pasture is divided in orohat (reindeer districts). A district is a geographical area in which some herders have exclusive grazing rights. In 1994 the Reindriftsadministrasjon has proposed to make only a few districts in Finnmark. Each district shall include both summer and winter pastures. At the same time the districts shall be responsible for the management of their pastures.

"The proposal means that the boards of the districts shall plan land use, and their main tool is the number of animals the herders keep. Does the proposal mean empowering the Sami herder population? In this paper I will outline some dilemmas in the management of the reindeer pastures."