Laxen, Umeå
In this presentation, Tim Horstkotte explore how reindeer herders decide about the application of supplementary feeding, and if they see this strategy as an adaptation to climate change - or yet another threat to an Indigenous livelihood and continued cultural colonization.
For reindeer herders in Sápmi, the exposure to resource extraction and consequences of climate change on their traditional grazing grounds is a lived reality.
In their combination, they significantly influence herding practices and human-animal interactions. Supplementary feeding – in contrast to traditional free-grazing land use – has become a practice, increasing in frequency and extent, to react to the climatic, ecological and sociopolitical challenges. From a policy perspective, supplementary may appear a preferred option. However, reindeer herders perceive the increasing need of supplementary feeding as a threat to their traditional herding practices. This presentation explores how reindeer herders make decisions with regard to supplementary feeding, and how social-ecological system dynamics may affect a shift from culturally preferred free grazing to a forced dependence on supplementary feeding."
Illustration: Juliana D. Spahr