Articles containing the keyword 'indigenous rights'

Today, conflicts often occur in northern Fennoscandia (also known as Sápmi) between forestry and reindeer husbandry. Continuous cover forestry (CCF) is requested by both reindeer herding communities and the general public and is becoming more common, but the forest industry criticizes CCF for lower wood production. Mechanical site preparation (MSP) increases regeneration success and, thus, increases wood production in CCF. To reduce the conflict between forestry and reindeer husbandry, MSP in Sápmi should destroy as little ground lichen as possible. Today, there are no solutions for gentle and lichen-adapted MSP in CCF. Thus, there is a strong need to develop and test new technical solutions that increase regeneration success in a lichen-adapted way during CCF in Sápmi. We suggest that MSP solutions be developed which are gentle, work selectively and function in shelterwoods, gap cuts, and selection cutting stands. We envision that these solutions could fill the gap between the desired adaptivity on the part of the reindeer herding communities and the desired efficiency on the part of the forest industry. Such MSP technology would contribute to increased acceptance of CCF in the forest industry, higher biodiversity, and considerably reduce the conflict between forestry and reindeer herding communities.

• Ersson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), School of Forest Management, SE-739 21 Skinnskatteberg, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2442-7482 E-mail: back.tomas.ersson@slu.se
• Hansson, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9788-1734 E-mail: linnea.hansson@skogforsk.se
• Manner, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4982-3855 E-mail: jussi.manner@skogforsk.se
• Sandström, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Forest Resource Management, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0977-0071 E-mail: per.sandstrom@slu.se
• Sonesson, The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2018-7496 E-mail: johan.sonesson@skogforsk.se

In this discussion paper, we discuss what benefits Finnish citizens and companies can derive from forest data, and how the benefits of that data depend on rights to forests. Environmental protection, everyone’s forest use, bioeconomy, and tourism may benefit from increased access to forest data. Access to forest data is a democratic right by itself. Forest data allow actors to derive more value from their existing forest rights and may spark demands for clarification or reformulation of forest rights. Transparency of forest data also allows voluntary trade in forest ecosystem services. Increased access to forest data may also contribute to forest-related conflicts, given that various, at times contradictory interests are directed at forests. At best, increased access to forest data and information may support the renewal of forest governance to become more democratic, legitimate, and effective.

• Lähteenmäki-Uutela, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Societal Change, Latokartanonkaari 11, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3230-3869 E-mail: anu.lahteenmaki-uutela@syke.fi
• Rantala, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Societal Change, Latokartanonkaari 11, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland E-mail: salla.rantala@syke.fi
• Swallow, University of Alberta, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, 5-67 General Services Building, 9007 - 116 St NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada E-mail: bswallow@ualberta.ca
• Lehtiniemi, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Societal Change, Latokartanonkaari 11, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7418-5069 E-mail: heidi.lehtiniemi@syke.fi
• Pohjola, University of Turku, Development Projects, Pohjoisranta 11 A, FI-28100 Pori, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3439-7993 E-mail: tuarpo@utu.fi
• Paloniemi, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Societal Change, Latokartanonkaari 11, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2853-535X E-mail: riikka.paloniemi@syke.fi