Adaptation to the Future Climate in Sámi Reindeer Husbandry: A Case Study from Tromsø, Norway

Abstract

Climate projections for Northern Norway show an increase in winter temperatures in the nearest future. What are the consequences of such rapid changes for Sámi reindeer husbandry? How can herders adapt? This case study, just outside Tromsø in Northern Norway, seeks to answer these questions by analyzing local climate history and interviewing herders. In the 1950s, a herd of Sámi reindeer changed both summer and winter pasture grounds. Subsequently, changing especially winter pasture grounds from inland Kautokeino to the coastal areas near Tromsø challenged both reindeer and herders. As a result, in Troms, the herders had to develop adaptation strategies to manage herding in winters with a high frequency of rain-on-snow conditions, large amounts of snow, and decreased access to reindeer pastures. The situation in interior Finnmark, where they were located originally, is historically different: less snow and colder temperatures. However, future climate projections show that the herders in Finnmark could face today’s situation in Troms within the next 50 years, with warm winters and high precipitation. Reindeer herders in Troms adapted to the new climate by changing their herding systems and increasing supplementary feeding. Yet their adaptive capacity is constrained by different external factors discussed in this chapter. The future of reindeer herding in both Finnmark and Troms, Northern Norway, depends on cooperation with authorities to protect the grazing land and provide herding flexibility.