Lichen mats in Lapland have shrunk worryingly in size

Calls for reductions in the size of reindeer herds

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According to studies at the Reindeer Research Station in Kaamanen in Finnish Lapland, the northern reindeer pastures are in a bad way.
     
The pastures in the reindeer-herding areas have almost been eaten up, while on the other side of a fence, where reindeer are seldom seen, magnificent star-tipped lichens (Cladonia stellaris) are raising their heads.
      ”The star-tipped lichen is the most susceptible lichen to trampling, but it provides important food for reindeer in the winter”, reports Jouko Kumpula, a researcher at the Reindeer Research Station.
     
The condition of lichen grounds in the North of Finland is poor. According to research conducted by the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, the amount of lichen or the lichen biomass per hectare has plummeted by half in Northern Lapland since the mid-1990s.
      ”The most worn-out pastures can be found in the fell districts and in the central and southern parts of the reindeer husbandry area”, Kumpula notes.
     
The condition of pastures is now topical, as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry plans to determine the maximum number of reindeer that will be permitted in Lapland in the course of the next ten years.
      At present, the carrying capacity of the pastures in Lapland is estimated at 203,000 head of reindeer.
      Sami Niemi, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, says that the number of reindeer is likely to be amended as the condition of the pastures has not improved.
      Jouko Kumpula agrees, saying that the number of reindeer should be reduced considerably, if lichen is to be recovered.
      ”A reduction of just a few per cent is not likely to make any difference”, Kumpula notes.
      Moreover, Kumpula would also intensify the seasonal cycle of rotation between winter and summer pastures. Winter feeding has become increasingly common, but in Kumpula’s view, it does not improve pastures much.
     
However, reindeer herders are not satisfied with the planned reduction of the maximum number of reindeer.
      ”For example, in Kainuu [further south], there are regions where the number of reindeer has come down by half but the pastures are still worn out. The reindeer number in Finland could well remain unaltered”, outlines Jukka Knuuti, the executive manager of the Reindeer Herders’ Association.
      Reineer herder Tarmo Lietoff from the Muotkatunturi reindeer owners’ cooperative in Inari admits that the lichen grounds look quite different from what they were like just 20 years ago. Nevertheless, the weights of calves have not dropped, which means that reindeer have found something else to eat.
      ”If the number of reindeer will have to be reduced, we should figure out from where we could seek compensation for our loss”, Lietoff concludes, summarising the shared opinion of reindeer herders.
     
Some reindeer owners’ cooperatives have exceeded the limits set on the number of reindeer. Moreover, competition between reindeer herders also tends to increase the number of reindeer. It is advantageous for reindeer herders to swell their herds within the quota of the cooperative in question.
      Special researcher Kumpula from the Reindeer Research Station stresses that reindeer-herding is only one of the factors affecting pastures.
      The lichen grounds wear out, as the reindeer grazing areas shrink and become scattered.
      One of the underlying factors behind this is an increase in other land use: construction, roads, and minerals exploitation.
      For example, in the Muonio reindeer-herding area already 25% of the land area has been designated as community infrastructure.
      Moreover, fellings have also reduced the amounts of lichen and Bryoria lichen, a genus of lichens that reindeer eat in the spring.
      The area of Bryoria lichen pastures has shrunk by 20% since the 1990s.
     
Last year, Metsähallitus, the state enterprise that administers more than 12 million hectares of state-owned land and water areas, decided to permanently exclude from forestry the wilderness-like forests in the forest areas of Central Lapland. However, in Upper Lapland the dispute on old forests remains unresolved for the time being.


Links:
  Lichen (Wikipedia)
  Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute
  Metsähallitus

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