Rovaniemi, Finland \u2014 Seven S\u00e1mi reindeer herding cooperatives have given official statements to oppose the planned industrial railway line that would cut through their herding areas in the Great Northern Forest in Finland. They demand that the project should be abandoned and taken out from the regional land use plan. [1]<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Arctic railway would mean the end of our way of life. I live under this threat every single day as the railway would destroy my past, my future and my identity,\u201d said Jussa Seuruj\u00e4rvi, a S\u00e1mi reindeer herder of Muddusj\u00e4rvi reindeer herding cooperative in Inari, Finland.<\/p>\n
The Indigenous S\u00e0mi communities in Northern Finland have practiced traditional reindeer-herding for generations. The reindeer depend on lichen of the old-growth forests of the Great Northern Forest during the winter. Industrial forestry has been destroying and fragmenting these forests for years, pushing communities to their limit.<\/p>\n
The Arctic railway is a project that is being planned would connect Finland, and its natural resources, to the Arctic Ocean. It will facilitate the opening of mines in the S\u00e1mi Homeland, as well as serving the development of the logging industry.<\/p>\n
A report commissioned by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has stated that the project is not economically viable. However\u00b4the regional authority, Lapin liitto, is including the project in the regional land use plan thus keeping the threat hanging on the reindeer herders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Finnish government is trading away our rights and our land. We do not consent,\u201d added Seuruj\u00e4rvi.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace has worked with the S\u00e1mi since 2002 to push back against the logging industry and to protect the Great Northern Forest critical to reindeer herding, biodiversity and climate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Finnish government is betting that the melting Arctic will provide a trade route to exploit S\u00e1mi lands. They want more pulp mills and more logging to Finland. It is insane. We can\u2019t afford losing any more of the carbon sink nor the biodiversity of these northern forests,\u201d said Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace Nordic forest campaigner.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
Pictures of S\u00e1mi reindeer herders and the Great Northern Forest in S\u00e1pmi, northern Finland available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n [1] There are 13 S\u00e1mi reindeer herding cooperatives in Finland. Seven of them are affected by the railway plan. All of them have given an official remark to the draft of the regional land use plan by the 28th of February 2019.<\/p>\n Contact:<\/p>\n Matti Liimatainen, Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace Nordic: +358 400 346 329, matti.liimatainen@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n Juha Aromaa, Communications Manager, Greenpeace Nordic: +358 50 369 6202, juha.aromaa@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n