Greenpeace activists in Rome today appealed to the Finnish Prime Minister to save the Sàmi reindeer forests in Northern Finland . The activists unfurled a banner - Stop Trashing Sàmi Reindeer Forests - at the UN headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Wood chips were deposited in front of the building to highlight the fact that the Finnish government is turning the reindeer forests into wood chips for pulp and paper production.
The Prime Minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen, is visiting Rome to open a Finnish Forestry Room in the FAO building. The government claims that the meeting room "represents an important aspect of their national culture."
"Whilst the Finnish Prime Minister travels abroad to celebrate its national culture, his government back home has been busy making money from destroying the livelihood of Sàmi reindeer herders," said Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace forests campaigner. "Traditional free-grazing reindeer herding forms the basis of Sàmi indigenous culture, but its future hangs in the balance as the government refuses to seek a long-term solution in the issue."
Through the state-owned forest company Metsähallitus, the Finnish government has been logging in important reindeer grazing areas to supply Finnish pulp mills with cheap raw materials (1). In 2003 the reindeer herders together with Greenpeace and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) mapped out forest areas essential for winter grazing. Over 90% of the mapped forest areas were found to be old-growth forest.
"Speaking from Rome, Ms Sini Harkki from FANC said: "It is time for the Finnish government to live up to its national and international responsibilities and protect Lapland's old growth forests and the rights of the Sàmi to practise traditional reindeer herding. If this issue continues to be ignored, the future of traditional free-grazing reindeer herding remains uncertain. We can not let this happen.""
This activity follows a similar protest outside the UN venue Palais de Nations in Geneva yesterday. During the UN Human Rights Commission's 61st session, Mr Erkki Tuomioja, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a speech stating that Finland's objectives for its term of membership in the UN Human Rights Commission is to prevent discrimination of minorities and indigenous peoples. However, the Finnish government was recent criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee for discriminating against the rights of the Sàmi as indigenous people. (2)
At the beginning of March, Greenpeace established a Forest Rescue Station in one of the threatened reindeer forest areas to highlight the ongoing destruction by Metsauml;hallitus, the Finnish government's logging company and those paper companies that continue to buy this destruction (3)
Contacts:
Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace Nordic (Lapland) + 358 400 346 329
Phil Aikman Greenpeace International (London) + 44 7801 212995
Mikael Sjövall, Greenpeace Nordic (Helsinki) + 358 50 3696 202
Sini Harkki (FANC, Rome) + 358 50 582 1107
Notes to editor:
1. Up to 90% of Metsauml;hallitus's turnover comes from the sale of timber. The Finnish State is also the single largest shareholder in the main company that buys pulp logs coming from these areas, owning nearly one quarter of the voting shares in the Finnish-Swedish paper giant StoraEnso.
2. UN Human Rights Committee (November 2004):
"....regrets that it has not received a clear answer concerning the rights of the Sàmi as an indigenous people (Constitution, sect. 17, subsect. 3), in the light of article 1 of the Covenant. It reiterates its concern over the failure to settle the question of Sàmi rights to land ownership and the various public and private uses of land that affect the Sàmi's traditional means of subsistence - in particular reindeer breeding - thus endangering their traditional culture and way of life, and hence their identity."
"The State party should, in conjunction with the Sàmi people, swiftly take decisive action to arrive at an appropriate solution to the land dispute with due regard for the need to preserve the Sàmi identity in accordance with article 27 of the Covenant. Meanwhile it is requested to refrain from any action that might adversely prejudice settlement of the issue of Sàmi land rights. "
3. A weblog documenting the activities of the Forest Rescue Station can be seen at: weblog.greenpeace.org/forestrescue/
