The ongoing and increasing logging of fine lichen forests increases the necessity of providing fodder and threatens the economic self sustainability of reindeer husbandry, as husbandry depends on the reindeer being able to sustain themselves.

An inventory of Alectoria lichen was conducted in the territory of the Lapland Herdsman's Committee in 1999 to 2000, in which it confirmed that the incidence of Alectoria lichen in the logged forest areas is very low, and that logging operations cause considerable harm to reindeer husbandry.

3.3 The authors recall that after heavy snows in 1997, herders had for the first time to supply capital and labour intensive fodder for the reindeer rather than rely on lichen.

At the outset, they complain that since the 1980s, some 1,600 hectares of the Herdsmen's Committee's grazing area in Paadarskaidi have been logged, accounting for some 40 per cent of lichen (utilized for feeding reindeer) in that specific area.

Jonas Vannar, reindeer herder.

Recent years have seen mass starvation among reindeer.

At the same time that logging proceeds, reindeer numbers have been reduced because the pastures still available cannot support the previous number of reindeer.

So Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer you know it?

As a reindeer herder you are very dependent on nature

As a reindeer herder you are very dependent on nature.

The logging operations result in a complete loss of lichen in the areas affected, allegedly lasting for hundreds of years.

Despite these conditions, the profitability of reindeer husbandry has not improved, as the companies buying reindeer meat have reduced their prices by up to 30 per cent and have purchased less.

After logging, logging waste prevents reindeer grazing and compacted snow hampers digging.

The high numbers of reindeer kept by the Herdsmen's Committee in their herds and the resulting adverse effects on herding lands, increase the need for additional feeding, thereby harming the reindeer husbandry.

The authors allege that the principal cause of this decline in winter pastures, and particularly of horsehair lichen pastures, are the logging operations.

Jonas Vannar shares his experience as a traditional Saami reindeer herder in the video below.

Subject matter Rights of reindeer herders with respect to logging operations undertaken by the State party

In view of the state of winter herding areas, the present number of reindeer is high.

The Lapponian herder (Lapinporokoira or Lapp Reindeer dog or Lapsk Vallhund) is a breed of dog from Finland, one of three Lapphund breeds developed from a type of dog used by the Sami people for herding and guarding their reindeer.

7.10 Even after the reductions of the maximum number of reindeer by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 1998 1999 and 2000 2001, the maximum number of reindeer allowed is more than three times the numbers allowed in the 1970s.

For the State party, the Ministry's decision on the permitted number of reindeer does not alone constitute any substantiated evidence of the effects of certain individual loggings, but rather of the effects of the high numbers of reindeer kept in herds.

In recent years, because of the lack of natural winter food, the authors have had to rely on artificial reindeer food which requires additional income from sources other than reindeer husbandry, thereby impacting on the profitability of this form of livelihood.

The Ministry is charged by statute, in determining the maximum number of reindeer, to ensure that the number of reindeer grazing in the Herdsmen's Committee's area in the winter season does not exceed the sustainable productive capacity of the Herdsmen's Committee's winter pastures.

If, on the other hand, the aim is to engage in reindeer husbandry based purely on natural pastures, then loggings even those notified as relatively mild will be of greater significance for reindeer husbandry that is already in difficulties for other reasons .

In addition, the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in considering the maximum permissible population of reindeer per herd, acknowledged the importance and availability of winter nutrition for reindeer Lichenes, Alectoria and Deschampsia and that logging has reduced stocks of the former two foods.

In the determination of the maximum numbers of reindeer, the principle enshrined in section 21, subsection 2, is applied according to which the number of reindeer in the herds on the lands administered by the Committee may not exceed the sustainable productive capacity of the winter pastures.

The felling cycle involves a wide range of measures, even the least invasive of which cause harm to reindeer husbandry.

Nor may the reductions in reindeer be considered a justification for not pursuing domestic remedies, where such allegations would be examined.

According to a statement given by the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute on 31 January 2002, the operations referred to in the communication do not have any significant additional adverse effects on reindeer herding in the long term if the numbers of reindeer are maintained approximately at their present level.

Note Sameby, translated as Saami village in this video, is an economic association of reindeer herders that share a certain geographic area.

So what you're looking at here is the rhizocarpon geographicum, or map lichen, and this is around 3,000 years old and lives in Greenland, which is a long way to go for some lichens.

Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere.

These problems are exacerbated by the forestry industry and big infrastructure like wind parks or hydropower that cut off reindeer herding routes and pastures.

and concedes that the concept of culture within the meaning of article 27 covers reindeer husbandry, as an essential component of the Sami culture.

7.8 As to the effects of logging on reindeer herding, the State party notes that it has not been shown that the effects of the earlier logging operations were more than anticipated. Nor was it shown that logging operations would create long lasting harm preventing the authors from continuing reindeer herding in the area at its present extent.

Substantive issues Extent to which logging may be carried out by State authorities before it will be considered to violate the rights of reindeer herders

It is also observed that reindeer herdsmen's committees within the Sami often have a mixed composition of both Sami and other Finns as their members.

8.7 It is submitted that after logging, as reindeer do not remain grazing on managed areas, grazing pressure comes to bear on the remaining territory.

In addition, the State collects a penalty fee if the Herdsmen's Committee exceeds its quota of reindeer per herd on account of failure to sell.

Wildlife on these remote islands is threatened by introduced species, especially on South Georgia, where even large animals, including reindeer, have been brought to the islands.

3.4 The authors recall that the maximum number of reindeer that may be kept by the Herdsmen's Committee is decided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Studies on the concentration of persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyl and pesticides like dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane, in soil and lichen samples from the eastern coast of Antarctica highlight atmospheric long range transport of those pollutants from Africa, South America or Australia.

3.5 Despite the recent reductions in reindeer herds, the National Forest Park Service continues to conduct logging operations, destroying the Herdsmen's Committee's pastures, and further deteriorating husbandry conditions.

During their field work in Norway, Disney's team, for inspiration, visited Rørosrein, a Sámi family owned company in the village Plassje that produces reindeer meat and arranges tourist events.

3.1 The authors allege a violation of their rights as reindeer herders under article 27 of the Covenant, both inasmuch as it relates to logging already undertaken and to logging proposed.