Military drills disrupt reindeer herding in Arctic Finland

By admin On May 28, 2025

A reindeer in finnish Fell in the region of Inari, Finland.

Reindeer herders in northern Finland say increased military exercises are disrupting traditional herding practices and damaging critical grazing lands, as Finland deepens its NATO involvement and hosts more international training operations.

“Military activity has increased massively here since Finland joined NATO,” said Kyösti Uutela, who leads a reindeer husbandry district near the Rovajärvi artillery range. The training area, covering over 1,000 square kilometres, is the largest of its kind in western Europe and lies just 100 kilometres from the Russian border.

Uutela said parts of the forest previously used as pasture have been lost. Trenches, tank tracks, and clear-cut hillsides have made the land unusable for grazing.

“The use of heavy army tanks and the presence of thousands of soldiers in the forest destroy the lichen pastures. Reindeer will not be able to live here anymore,” he said.

The Finnish Defence Forces confirmed that military training activity has increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in 2023 and formalised a defence cooperation agreement with the United States the following year.

The Defence Forces said Rovajärvi provides unique training opportunities due to its size, landscape and seasonal variation, and added that herding needs are considered in the scheduling and location of exercises.

Despite those assurances, herders report rising stress among animals, especially during sensitive times such as the May calving season.

Riikka Poropudas, a local herder, said the shift has been “radical.” She now finds herself feeding reindeer in enclosed areas more often, as large military exercises force animals off their traditional routes.

This month, around 6,500 soldiers from Finland, Sweden and the UK took part in a live-fire combat exercise in the region. Poropudas fears the noise and activity will displace reindeer mothers and newborn calves from calving grounds.

“The activities stress both female reindeer and newborn calves, and drive them away from their natural pastures,” she said.

There are roughly 4,300 reindeer owners in Finland managing a population of about 184,000 animals across 57 husbandry districts, which span over a third of the country’s land area. Among them are around 1,200 indigenous Sámi herders, for whom reindeer husbandry is a core cultural and economic activity.

Tuomas Aslak Juuso, acting president of Finland’s Sámi Parliament, said the militarisation of the Arctic, alongside climate change and land-use changes, presents mounting challenges to Sámi herding traditions.

“Our model relies on reindeer grazing freely across natural pasture lands,” he said. Warmer winters have already forced many herders to use supplementary feed more often to prevent starvation.

Juuso described a 2023 military exercise in Finnish Sápmi as damaging. He said local herders had not been informed in advance, and that military vehicles destroyed lichen pastures that may never recover.

“When these things are planned, there should be early consultation with the Sámi and responsibility for damage and harm,” he said.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi