Reindeer husbandry in peril?—How extractive industries exert multiple pressures on an Arctic pastoral ecosystem

Abstract

Environmental changes and their consequences on biodiversity are known to have far‐reaching effects on the resilience of animal populations and associated livelihoods around the world. To counteract negative demographic and economic effects on pastoralism, knowledge about the historical and current status of the environment is essential. In this study, we show how extractive industries, especially large‐scale mining, induced a cascade of land conversions which are affecting animal populations and pastoralists’ adaptive responses in northern Sweden. We examine social–ecological vulnerability in Arctic reindeer husbandry by integrating herders’ knowledge, population statistics for semi‐domesticated reindeer Rangifer t. tarandus, public data on socio‐economic variables and geospatial tools. We determine that approximately 34% of Laevas reindeer herding community's grazing grounds are functionally unavailable to reindeer at present due to the accumulation of multiple competing land use pressures. Reindeer numbers currently only remain stable due to increased management efforts. Moreover, we identified current hotspots of high cumulative impact and mineral exploration as the spatially dominating land use factor in this area. Our approach and results provide new insights for scientifically robust cumulative impact assessments of anthropogenic stressors by creating a baseline of current developments via a combination of reindeer herder's knowledge with historical data of trends and extents of human activity over the last century.

Impacts of climate warming on reindeer herding require new land-use strategies

“…For the Sa ´mi reindeer herding culture to also flourish in the future, it is pertinent that their adaptive capacity to warmer and more variable weather and snow conditions increases. On the contrary, we observe a continued reduction of the adaptive capacity of Laevas RHC because of an increase of competing land-use activities (Fohringer et al 2021). It is, therefore, pertinent that environmental planning efforts also integrate the effects of climate change on the availability of ecosystems for reindeer grazing.…”

“…On the contrary it is a major concern among all RHC in Sweden, and among herding communities in other Arctic regions (e.g., Lo ¨f et al 2012;Mathiesen et al 2013;Uboni et al 2016). Laevas RHC, however, experiences many additional land-use changes such as infrastructure development associated with the mining industry (LKAB, Laevas-och Gabna samebyar 2015), the relocation of the township of Kiruna (Sjo ¨holm 2013), forestry, and tourism (Fohringer et al 2021). The number of areal and linear infrastructures has increased, and therefore reduced pasture areas and connectivity between remaining pastures over the past 130 years (Fohringer et al 2021).…”

“…Laevas RHC, however, experiences many additional land-use changes such as infrastructure development associated with the mining industry (LKAB, Laevas-och Gabna samebyar 2015), the relocation of the township of Kiruna (Sjo ¨holm 2013), forestry, and tourism (Fohringer et al 2021). The number of areal and linear infrastructures has increased, and therefore reduced pasture areas and connectivity between remaining pastures over the past 130 years (Fohringer et al 2021). Several important migration routes that used to pass Kiruna have been cut off by the expansion of mining-related infrastructure (LKAB, Laevas-och Gabna samebyar 2015).…”

The decreasing availability of reindeer forage in boreal forests during snow cover periods: A Sámi pastoral landscape perspective in Sweden

“…Österlin and Ratio’s (2020) macro-level study of RHCs identified an increase in permits granted for mining (from 1000 ha to over 20 000 ha between 1960 and 2017) and wind turbines (from 48 to 983 operating turbines between 2003 and 2017). Fohringer et al ( 2021 ) focussed on an individual mountain RHC, and their case study concluded that 34% of pasturelands had become functionally unavailable; this can be compared to the case study reported by Kløcker-Larsen et al ( 2016 ), which concluded that 54% of winter pasturelands were within aforementioned disturbance zones. Regarding predator pressure, the Sámi parliament recently reported that, for many RHCs, 20–40% of the herd (mainly calves) was killed by predators annually, which is much higher than the 10% tolerance level defined by the state (Sámediggi 2021b ).…”

“…Encroachment due to competing land uses can remove forage and limit its accessibility. Cumulative effects of encroachments have been analysed using a variety of sector-based economic, GIS and qualitative data (Kløcker-Larsen et al 2016 ; Österlin and Raitio 2020 ; Fohringer et al 2021 ). Österlin and Ratio’s (2020) macro-level study of RHCs identified an increase in permits granted for mining (from 1000 ha to over 20 000 ha between 1960 and 2017) and wind turbines (from 48 to 983 operating turbines between 2003 and 2017).…”