Pastureland restoration is urgent for Sámi reindeer pastoralism to coexist with the forest industry and adapt to climate change in Northern Sweden

Key recommendations

Pastureland restoration must be implemented to reduce dependency on
coping mechanisms such as emergency feeding, mechanized transport and
intense workloads. These coping mechanisms are increasingly used to deal
with the cumulative effects of encroachments from competing land uses,
predator pressure, and the impacts of climate change on snow conditions.

Vigorous thinning of dense, managed forests is a critical pastureland
restoration measures that can reverse the negative trend of loss, degradation
and fragmentation of ground lichens, which are key forage resources for
reindeer during snow periods. Other studies show that implementing such
restoration measures can benefit both reindeer pastoralism and forestry.

Conservation of old-growth and primary forests would further improve the
conditions for Sámi reindeer pastoralism as such forests are habitats for
pendulous lichens, another key forage resource, and are important for cultural
heritage, biodiversity conservation, and carbon storage.

Pastureland restoration measures that improve the ecological conditions for
Sámi reindeer pastoralism must be adapted to local and landscape scale
conditions, and Indigenous and local knowledge can help in that process.