FutureArcticLives investigates the impacts of climate change and biodiversity shifts on small-scale Arctic resource users, including Inuit hunters and fishermen in Greenland, Saami reindeer herders in Sweden and Norway, and sea Saami communities in Norway.
The project aims to assess welfare and adaptation possibilities, integrating cultural, economic, and ecological perspectives. It develops ecosystem service assessments, bio-economic models, and policy analyses to understand and mitigate the challenges facing these communities. Collaborative approaches with stakeholders and policymakers ensure the relevance and application of the findings.
Read more about the project here.
IN THE COMIC >
In Tides of Change, you see FutureArticLives’ research being used to show that climate change has been affecting the area for years, creating massive impacts on the ecosystems and biodiversity. One example:, the Saami communities in Norway who herd reindeer. Reindeer herding is of great importance to Saami communities — the only indigenous population of Scandinavia — both economically and culturally. Historically, herders have seasonal conditions by moving herds across huge areas between winter and summer grazing ranges. Climate models predict more variable future winter conditions in the Scandinavian Arctic. This has the potential to negatively affect reindeer husbandry, and make reindeer herding even more vulnerable to potential external limiting factors such as land conversion to forestry (for wood) and predation by carnivores, negatively affecting the welfare of the Sami. Insights are urgently needed about likely future scenarios and welfare consequences facilitating necessary adaptions, and providing input to regulations governing reindeer husbandry.
