Certification

Lapland has been FFCS-certified for a year now. There are two FFCS criteria that should be applied when reindeer herding and Sámi cultural aspects are involved. Firstly, FFCS criterion 36 concerning the safeguarding of the Sámi people's traditional means of livelihood and culture states that In the Sámi homelands the management, use and protection of natural resources administrated by the Forest and Park Service is harmonised in cooperation with Sámi representatives such that the conditions for the practising of traditional livelihoods and the Sámi culture are maintained.

However, according to the reindeer herders interviewed for this study, FFCS certification has not improved FPS management or planning practices. The so-called negotiations between the herders and the FPS are not considered by the herders to be real negotiations between equals. The FPS will not cancel planned loggings unless the herders take the issue to the courts.

Case studies presented in this report show that the FFCS certification does not in practice stop further deterioration of the Sámi reindeer herding. Therefore, the Sámi Parliament, an official body representing the Sámi, stated in November 2000 that the requirements mentioned in the criterion 36 are not currently met - due to FPS forestry practices and several other shortcomings. The Parliament also stated that the FPS does not carry out its statutory task to negotiate on these matters with the Sámi Parliament and the relevant herding co-operatives (see appendix 11). It must be noted also, that the Sámi Parliament demanded already in 1998 that forest management in the Sámi area be conducted in accordance with the principles and criteria of FSC certification instead.

The other relevant criterion (37) - integration of reindeer husbandry and forestry- states that The Forest and Park Service should cooperate with the representatives of reindeer husbandry when carrying out such measures that might have a significant effect on reindeer farming. The need for cooperation is determined by both parties together for ensuring adequate and appropriate participation and harmonisation. It is obvious in the light of herder interviews that even this criterion, although less demanding than criterion 36, is not met to a sufficient extent in all of the cases. It is equally alarming that the criterion was entirely formulated without the involvement of reindeer herding representatives in the first place.

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