A Competing Harvester, Stakeholder, and Environmental Threat: Positioning Reindeer in Metla Forestry Research
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Published version
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https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3026648Utgivelsesdato
2022Metadata
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Sammendrag
What kind of positions have reindeer been given in Finnish forestry science by research
institution, Metsäntutkimuslaitos (Metla)? Because of overlapping zones of utiliza-
tion, reindeer for the most part appeared as a threat to national wealth and a prob-
lem to harvesting, as well as spoiling ecosystem productivity. They were perceived as
a harmful species that destroyed and “killed” saplings and decreased the forest areal.
Closer to the present day, the positions of reindeer have become more versatile, and
reindeer receive more positive characterizations, even that of stakeholders, or the
ones enjoying the outcomes of better-managed pastures. However, the breakthrough
in environmental discourse from the 1980s onwards has led to the marginalization and
demonization of the reindeer. The position of reindeer in their ecosystem has become
unstable and is defined anew as a risk.