Forest Fire and Indigenous Landscape Identity

Brief Background

2018 was a summer of extreme weather. High temperatures and extended periods of drought were experienced across much of Europe. In Sweden this culminated in the worst forest fire season in modern Swedish history. These fires affected areas inhabited and used by Sami reindeer herding communities of Northern and Western Sweden.

In November of 2019 myself, along with Annette Löf and Sara Holmgren from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Maria Boström, National from the federation of Swedish Sami (Svenska Samernas Riksförbund (SSR), received funding from the Swedish funding body, Formas. The resulting project “ReaD-FIRE: Researching and Decolonizing: Forest fires and indigenous landscape relation” aims to understand what the loss of this landscape meant for the Sámi communities. The funding we received from Landscape Research Group allowed us to hold an additional workshop and field visits with affected herding communities.

Read-Fire is a transdisciplinary project, as we work in partnership with the National federation of Swedish Sami (SSR) and in close collaboration with herding communities. At the start of the project there were no clearly defined research questions, but rather a realisation that the impact of fire on indigenous Sami culture, livelihoods and connection to landscape  as an understudied field. We started ReaD-Fire in 2020 and along with the Sami communities of Härjedalen we continue to discover what issues and research questions are pertinent for the affected communities.

Sami and Reindeer Herding

The Sami, are said to be a nation without a state, spread across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and have been made to fit within national boundaries and the administrative restraints defined by the different nations. The Sami are divided into Sameby (see figure 1). Each Sameby has its own territory, negotiated with the state. They don’t own the land but hold grazing rights across private and state owned properties. This grazing land is divided into Summer and Winter grazing areas. For the Southern Sami communities, who are our research partners, the summer grazing is in the more mountainous areas, places which are cooler, where the reindeer have the ability to escape the mosquitoes and midges. In the summer there is a wider range of grazing and browsing available. The winter grazing areas tend to be at lower altitude in the more forested landscapes, where there is an abundance of lichen, the reindeers staple winter fodder. The reindeer are moved or roam from one to the other, which can be across huge tracts of land.

There is increasing pressure on these finite grazing areas, designation from the State means that straying into adjacent areas can create conflicts, and inflict fines with other Sameby. Plus there is pressure from other uses, uses which fragment the landscape such as transport and power infrastructure, mineral extraction, and recreation, influenced by increased accessibility and popularity. In winter, the recreational use of snowmobiles disrupts their grazing patterns. Herding is also impacted by modern forest management, where the agenda for timber production is at odds with herders’ needs for mature forests which would harbour the much needed lichen. Add to this is the predators, bears, wolves, lynx, wolverines…

And the herders are at the forefront of the impact of climate change in the Nordic countries, the increasingly common milder winters result in periods of freeze and thaws throughout the season. This produces an ice surface through which the reindeer cannot sniff out the lichen and this hard shell over the snow hinders reindeer from digging down to access this fodder.

Since 2018 there has also been an increased awareness of the threat of fires amongst the Sami, their direct impact on the forest and the lichen they contain. This risk brings with it uncertainty in how will the fires season will develop in the future? How will lichen react to a changing climate? Could the aftermath of extensive fires favour more vigorous vegetation?

Reporting

Due to Covid restrictions our physical workshop was delayed. This resulted in time within the project for an extended period for literature study.  As well as four digital meetings, with representatives of Sami herding communities. The aim was to start to map out the issues relating to forest fires as well as provide knowledge for the herders by inviting in experts on:

• Academic studies of lichen development

• Experience of spreading lichen, from herder affected by fire in 2006

• Fire ecology etc.

The activities carried out were:

• In the summer of 2021, five individual in-fields took place
• The one-day workshop in the field funded by LRG.
• The LRG-funded workshop was followed by a continuation of the digital meetings in order to explore what we had started to reveal in the workshop with the experts
• In June 2022 a further workshop was undertaken with 9 herders from four of the five Sami communities.

Brief Overview of the Process

Brief Overview of the Literature

Central to our understanding of the Sami connection to landscape is the work of Joks et al (2020), they draw on the Sami concept of ‘Meahcci‘. ‘Meahcci’ relates more to taskscapes and the significance of practice understanding connections. The one place is many places or Meahcci, dependent on the activity undertaken in it. The Meahcci can also move over time, for example through change in quality of grazing areas or berry availability. As such tasks are understood as an unfolding of temporality, time in a Sami context is less of a succession of standardised and arbitrary units, but is rather dependent on ability to perform tasks (Mazzullo, 2012).

From a western stance we expect to be able to read a landscape with our eyes and understand the artifacts, yet Sami landscapes tend to lack a visible imprint (Valkonen, Valkonen, & Ingold, 2019). The Sami ‘landscape’ has to be experienced in order to be able document it (Grenersen, Kemi, & Nilsen, 2016).

From a western stance we expect to be able to read a landscape with our eyes and understand the artifacts, yet Sami landscapes tend to lack a visible imprint (Valkonen, Valkonen, & Ingold, 2019). The Sami ‘landscape’ has to be experienced in order to be able document it (Grenersen, Kemi, & Nilsen, 2016). The Sami history is a history of habitation, built on memories rather than monuments, memories which keep history alive rather than preserving (Ingold, 2019). This creates problems with implementing landscape approaches to research in such contexts, where local indigenous lexicons only partially correspond to these external conceptualizations (Lehtinen, 2012)

Hence maps as a static representation are incapable of convey Sami relations to landscape (Cogos, Roué, & Roturier, 2017). Yet, a visual and scientific representation is often used in place of and as a means to argue for a Sami view (Benjaminsen, Reinert, Sjaastad, & Sara, 2015).

This short text from a selection of Sami-landscape related publications, highlights the need to be extra critical to our own approaches, preconceptions and even world views. To recognise that many tools we take for granted are not maybe only relevant for our own contexts?

Through the literature study we have also recognised a gap in Sami and fires studies, which could be beneficial for future sustainable forest management.

Field Interviews in Fire Areas

Five walking interviews were undertaken in five separate areas which impacted the different Sami herding communities. The interviews were undertaken by Maria Boström from the Svenska Samernas Riksförbund (SSR) (National Federation of Swedish Sami). All interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded. The aim of these interviews was to provide overview of the impact of fire, identify a location for the first workshop and provide initial empirical material in the field.

Handölsdalen Sameby – Fire caused by lightning (2018). Affected winter grazing area, used by one group of their herders. Now the reindeer will not go in the near vicinity of the area.

Idre Sameby – Area affected by fire in 2006. Previously all of Sameby could have grazed the area for 3-4 weeks. After 15 years the area is still avoided by the reindeer.

Mittådalen Sameby – Fire caused by lightning (2018). Always been important early winter grazing area adjacent to Sonfjället national park, no commercial forestry operations in the area.

Ruvhten sijte Sameby – Large fire started by lightning (2018). Half of the Sameby reindeer could be in the area most of winter. Area is also military firing range / training area, which means access is sometimes restricted, but also results in less public access.

Tåssåsen Sameby  – Nature conservation burn undertaken in 2016 to try to reduce heather in the forest, hope that it would help regenerate lichen. Winter grazing area. Interviewee expressed surprise at amount of lichen which had returned.

First Workshop

Attendees: from SLU Andrew Butler, Annette Löf & Sara Holmgren- plus representatives from Ruvhten sijte Sameby and Idre Sameby.

The workshop was planned for late August in order to fit into the working calendar of the herders (Rounding up and Culling, Late autumn – early winter; Winter herding and winter feeding, early winter – Late winter/early spring; Calving, May; Separation and ear marking July- mid August; September, Bull slaughter). Despite these considerations the time constraints of the work of herding makes it difficult for the herders to set aside time. Unfortunately due to sickness and other last minute commitments only 2 of the 5 herding communities were represented.

The workshop on the 19^th -20^th August 2021 was held in Särna, in Darlana County. This was close to the site of a large forest fire (Trängslet) in 2018 and a number of smaller fires from approximately 12 and 15 years previous. Trängslet was the main focus as this was the largest fire to affect the Sami communities.

Tränsgslet

Trängslet is a military firing range, managed by fortifikationsverket (Swedish fortification Agency) through commercial forestry. The area has been a main stay of the Ruvhten sijte Sameby’s winter grazing. While the firing range could be considered a disturbance to grazing, in reality it means that there is little recreational disturbance in the area. As well as being a valuable resource for winter grazing (figure 2), this area also gave access to other lichen rich areas to the south.

The fire which occurred on Thursday 12^th July 2018, was started by lightning. The underlying ground conditions, extreme dry weather, management regime, and fire fighting problem lead to the fire affecting over 3700 hectares of forest before it was finally under control on Friday 3^rd August.

Second Workshop

Attendees: from SLU (Dept of Urban and Rural Development) Andrew Butler & Annette Löf; Maria Boström (SSR); representatives from Handölsdalen Sameby, Idre Sameby, Mittådalen Sameby & Tåssåsen Sameby;  Anders Granström SLU (Dept Forest Ecology and Management); Anki Solsten, Gaaltje, (Sámi museum); Tim Horstkotte, Umeå University.

The workshop was held on 13th – 14th June 2022 in Sveg, Härjeldalen. A central location for the herding communities. In the second workshop the group visited two fire affected grazing areas. Sonfjäll, an area on the edge of a nature reserve, with no commercial forestry activity, and Lillharda a grazing area previously dominated by modern forest activity.

The aim of the Sveg workshop was to further define the research questions and share knowledge with, between and from the herding communities. Experts were invited relating to knowledge which the Herders had professed interest in: fire ecology (Anders Garnström), lichen development (Tim Horstkotte) and Sámi cultural heritage (Anki Solsten). These topics were discussed both in the field and in a more formal ‘conference’ setting.  

Findings From The Workshop

Through the workshop we hosted we observed that discussions about landscape (if we can use that term) wasn’t from a personal perspective or preference, but was centred on the reindeer, a pragmatic view of “landscape” which can only really be appreciated if you understand the nature and habits of reindeer. The topography was seen for it’s ability to provide safety and security for the animals, ridge that would steers them, places which would ‘hold’ the reindeer for extended periods. Undulations in the forest which protects the snow making digging for the lichen easier. And open mature forests which allows lichen to develop, prevents excessive ice build up and provide sightlines to see predators.

But the herders do not necessarily know what is lost in these winter grazing areas, as although they have a deep understanding of these landscapes, it is as a snow and ice covered land that they encounter it. In summer, when the lichen covered landscape is visible, the reindeer and the herders can be hundreds of miles away.

In these winter grazing areas there is a tight and balanced relationship between the herders, the reindeer, the snow and the lichen. Although lichen is central to the herder’s livelihoods, on the surface there is a lack of knowledge of lichen, their nomenclature, habitat etc. But this is to consider knowledge in a western scientific tradition. The Sami knowledge of lichen is place specific and relevance for reindeer and the everyday life of the herders. For the herders it is the reindeer who know the lichen. But more significant is lack of knowledge about return of lichen after a fire – not surprising as they have not experienced such a large event and have little time to return to areas which are affected by fire, one of the research gaps we have identified.

Which brings us to another of the big questions we have landed in so far “what is the extent of a fire, both spatial and temporal?”

These burnt areas have now been removed from grazing for many 50 years, it’s estimated that it will take as long for the lichen to become established again, if it does, as it will for the trees to mature. It is seen that purely as a physical grazing resource these areas are removed for at least the next two generations. But there is also the risk that Saméby will forget that the area has been good grazing, the herders will need to rediscover the area again in the future, it will be considered a place where the reindeer pass through. There is also the threat that there will be a generational knowledge gaps for the reindeer, who to a high degree dictate the actions and movement of the herders. Also if they do not use these areas then the right of use may disappear, as the Sami’s rights are linked to constant use.

Besides the temporal dimension, the herders have questioned the spatial impact. Commenting that the reindeer will not even access adjacent areas. Whether this is due to smoke or ash or some other factor we are unsure and we haven’t yet found any other studies which have lifted this impact on grazing.

These fires also create additional barriers, barren areas of grazing which deter the reindeer from venturing through to reach richer grazing.

In this text we deal only with Sami herding communities, which can be seen as reducing Sami perceptions and values to just a land use. By the nature of large fires they tend to be in remote and less accessible areas, places frequented primarily by herders. As such it is the reindeer herders who have been affected by the fire. However in order to understand better the relation to landscape, the Meahcci, we still plan to engage with other members of the Sami community; the hunters, people who fish, foragers, and those who collect materials for handcrafts.

Output

The findings/reflections from this study have been presented at:

Changing Landscape, Changing Lives; seminar series Reading University, Title: “Losing landscape – forest fires: mushroom, lichen and reindeer herding”. Zoom (22^nd October 2021)

Landscape Research Group; funding showcase, Zoom (11^th February 2022)

PECSRL, Jaén & Baeza, Spain. Session 5: Whose collective voice? Conflicting and shared values in defining landscapes. Title: “Recognising subordinated values: defining Sami landscape loss after forest fire” (26^th September 2022)

Pathways Europe Conference, Session W-3B, Ethical Dimensions of Sharing Landscapes. Title: “Severed Symbiotic Landscape Connections: Reindeer herding and wildfire” (19^th October 2022)

Draft article relating to recognising and contesting boundaries to fires to be submitted to Landscape Research Journal Spring 2023.

Selected References

Benjaminsen, T. A., Reinert, H., Sjaastad, E., & Sara, M. N. (2015). Misreading the Arctic landscape: A political ecology of reindeer, carrying capacities, and overstocking in Finnmark, Norway. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift – Norwegian Journal of Geography, 69(4), 219-229. doi:10.1080/00291951.2015.1031274

Cogos, S., Roué, M., & Roturier, S. (2017). Sami Place Names and Maps: Transmitting Knowledge of a Cultural Landscape in Contemporary Contexts. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 49(1), 43-51. doi:10.1657/AAAR0016-042

Grenersen, G., Kemi, K., & Nilsen, S. (2016). Landscapes as documents: The relationship between traditional Sámi terminology and the concepts of document and documentation. Journal of Documentation, 72(6), 1181-1196.

Ingold, T. (2019). The North is everywhere. In T. Hylland Eriksen, S. Valkonen, & J. Valkonen (Eds.), Knowing from the Indigenous North: Sámi approaches to histroy, politics and belonging (pp. 108-119). Abingdon, UK.: Routledge.

Joks, S., Østmo, L., & Law, J. (2020). Verbing meahcci: Living Sámi lands. The Sociological Review, 68(2), 305-321. doi:10.1177/0038026120905473

Lehtinen, A. A. (2012). Politics of decoupling: breaks between Indigenous and imported senses of the Nordic North. Journal of Cultural Geography, 29(1), 105-123. doi:10.1080/08873631.2012.655031

Mazzullo, N. (2012). The sense of time in the north: A Sámi perspective. Polar Record, 48(3), 214-222.

Valkonen, J., Valkonen, S., & Ingold, T. (2019). Introduction. In T. Hylland Eriksen, S. Valkonen, & J. Valkonen (Eds.), Knowing from the Indigenous North: Sámi approaches to histroy, politics and belonging (pp. 3-11). Abingdon, UK.: Routledge.