My recent topics & projects www.metla.fi/pp/625/index-en.htm

The effects of reindeer grazing and conservation in Malla nature reserve www.metla.fi/hanke/3312/index-en.htm

Criteria for social sustainability at northern tourist destinations www.arcticcentre.org/landscapelab

Sustainable multiple use of forests in northern Lapland www.metla.fi/hanke/3400/index-en.htm

PhD study, today's topic:

Cultural Factors of Nature-use in Lapland

Study objectives

trace cultural meanings that nature and nature-use are loaded among local people in Finnish Lapland

trace general needs and interests concerning local nature-use

trace tools and practises for culturally sound and successful nature conservation

study conditions for integration of different livelihoods and land-use patterns

Motives

many environmental conflicts in recent decades have shown that there is a remarkable demand for land-use management that recognizes especially social and cultural sustainability

due to rapid economical and cultural change there is also a social demand for integration of new and traditional livelihoods

Material & methods

1) personal interviews; target group local people, 88 persons were picked up using purposive & snowball sampling qualitative text analyses

2) survey; 1000 persons from stratified random sampling; population: local people aged 18-70, 500 Saami and 500 non-Saami; response rate 38.1% statistical analyses and qualitative text analyses

3) appealed writings from open writing contest targeted to local adults and youngsters; 60 writings qualitative text analyses

Theoretical background

is anchored on cognitive anthropology that studies relation between human society and human thought

cognitive anthropology studies how people in social groups conceive and understand reality of physical (like forests) and abstract (like sustainable forestry) entities

the study tracks shared cultural meanings that these entities are loaded

Theoretical background continued

shared meanings are organised and represented as cultural models that steer human behaviour together with biological base (genes) and physical environment

cultural models are building bricks for understanding the reality and cosmos, and how to operate there

concept meme comes fairly close to cultural model by studying cultural models of nature-use we can

track needs, hopes, beliefs and values concerning sustainable use of nature

Dawkins 1996; D´Andrade 1995; Shore 1996; Strauss & Quinn 1997; Blackmore 1999

Study area – Facts and figures

Study area consists of three municipalities: Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki

Study area

Facts and figures

Study area consists of three municipalities: Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki

Facts and figures

91.0 % of land is state owned 65.5 % of land and waters are under some level

nature conservation

Nature conservation areas

Facts and figures

91.0 % of land is state-owned 65.5 % of land and waters are under some level

nature conservation 2/3 of timber wood (115 00 m3) comes from state

forests of Inari hunting is free for local people in their home

municipality tourism is major business nowadays, reindeer

herding, public services and forestry (in Inari) are important employers too

Who should have power of decision on nature-use issues? – given increase and decrease counts at scale 0 to 100; means, N=321-356

Hallikainen et al. 2006.

Who should have power of decision on nature-use issues? Survey in Inari 2005

Important goals for state-owned forests– divide count 100 between different goals; means, N=331-348

Importance of activities on state forests– evaluate from 0 to 10; means, N=331-348

Significant differences between groups concerning nature-use

Nature conservation rate is high and conservationists disliked…

conservation rate 66 % in study area is high while Finland’s total protection rate is 10 % (mainly bogs and non-woodlands)

differences between municipalities are strong; woodlands in Inari are less protected and there has been ongoing forestry conflicts since 1980s

nature conservation and especially conservationists carry a negative label in local people’s minds at study area

But:

people are happy with existing land-use decisions, they don’t want to reverse them

paradox: when asked, people dislike conservation but are satisfied with status quo

reason: present land-use decisions support traditional activities and livelihoods like subsistence use and reindeer herding, and they restrict non-local use

We want to rule!

there is large demand for increment of local decision-making

at the background lies generations old antagonism between north and south, periphery and centre

polarisation between north/south or local/non-local is a very strong cultural model that steers the opinions what is acceptable, right or reliable

it also produces rhetoric and jargon that is sometimes a barrier against fruitful discussion and collaborative management

But who are we, locals?

it is not clear who is considered as “local” Saami as indigenous people are locals (if living in

the area) but also non-Saami families with centuries old occupation history feel like local and are afraid to be marginalised and considered as general Finns

locals with one generation occupation history feels also themselves as local

government considers local as anybody who is registered in the municipality and therefore he/she has equal extended local rights to natural resources

Timescapes of change

structural and cultural changes after 1950s have been remarkable rapid in the arctic

the time shift that took hundreds of centuries in mid-Europe occurred within one generation in the arctic

in my study area, northern Lapland, traditional livelihoods and subsistence use are not major source of living anymore

Timescapes of change continued…

although, the mental change is always slower than technical and economical change of culture

thus people appreciate traditional nature-use patterns even though modern ones like tourism are a much better business and source of living; modern activities are not considered ”real use” in that sense

people seem to live some kind of double life somewhere between a forever lost past and the present day

Timescapes of change continued…

that tends to cause minor or major troubles for socio-cultural adaptation

it is no wonder if elderly people have problems with synchronising their lifestyle and worldview to present modernity

the hybrid timescape local people live by in northern Lapland sets also a challenge for sustainable land-use management that has to operate with needs of past and future

Tips for management people, conservationists and authority

Be moderate when you import. People in northern Lapland are very sensitive - rational or not - to ideas or ideologies that have a mental label “imported from south” (but modern technology goes anytime).

Do not stress the importance of culturally distant biological entities (like insects and microbes), the message is easily misunderstood like: “we don’t care for local peoples’ needs”. Stress the support (if it exists) that operation gives to local culture.

Tips for management people, conservationists and authority continued…

seek and use common “language” for mutual understanding

avoid behaviour that could be interpreted – right or wrong – arrogant

be honest good sense of humour helps!