SCA respects the rights of indigenous peoples and considers their social, cultural, environmental and economic interests. As SCA’s forest operations are certified under the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC C004466), we also take greater responsibility than that set out in the Reindeer Husbandry Act. According to the principles and criteria of the FSC, consideration of the rights of indigenous peoples is a tremendously important part of responsible forest management.
The FSC standard, which was applied in autumn 2020, provides a special collaborative process, which offers reindeer herders greater influence over planned forestry measures. Joint planning is based on the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples, and aims to enable forest operations and reindeer herding to coexist in the forest landscape.
Both forest owners and reindeer herders present long-term needs and plans and then forestry and reindeer herding can jointly plan over longer periods of time and over larger areas. Issues discussed could include the time for harvesting, soil scarification method, fertilization and choice of tree species when planting new forest.
Some 30 Sami communities have legal and customary rights to herd reindeer on SCA’s land and we put a great deal of effort into consultations.