A/HRC/18/35/Add.2
52.
In Finland, 90 per cent of the land within the area that is designated as Sami
homeland is legally State land. To assist in the process of clarifying Sami rights to land,
between 2003 and 2006 the Finnish Government conducted a study on land use within the
Upper Lapland region. In this connection, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination recommended to Finland that it “take effective measures to ensure that the
so-called study on land rights in Upper Lapland result in concrete action, including the
adoption of new legislation, in consultation with the communities affected.”38 There have
been negotiations between the Government and the Finnish Sami Parliament to find
common ground on the land rights issue. However, at this point the legal status of the lands
that Sami people have traditionally used and occupied in Finland remains unresolved.
2.
Rights to marine resources
53.
The issue of Sami rights to fish in coastal waters is principally a matter for concern
in Norway. According to reports, in recent years Sami fishing off the northern coast of
Norway has been impeded greatly due to mismanagement of fisheries by non-Sami actors
and environmental factors. Furthermore, the increased industrialization of fishing in
Norway over the last two decades has lead to a deterioration of local control over and use of
marine resources. An additional concern is that fishing regulations are determined at the
national level, without local participation, and without taking into consideration customary
decision-making regarding marine resources or the local knowledge regarding the
management of these resources.
54.
The Finnmark Act in Norway does not include provisions related to marine
resources. However, comments on the Finnmark Act by the Standing Committee on Justice
of the Norwegian Parliament recognize that fishing is an important aspect of Sami culture,
and the Norwegian Parliament issued a resolution instructing the Government to clarify
rights along the coast of Finnmark. In response, and following consultation with the Sami
Parliament, the Coastal Fishing Committee was formed. The Committee recommended that
“it will be established as a principle that people living along the fjords and coast of
Finnmark have the right to fish in the ocean off Finnmark based on historical use and the
rules of international law regarding indigenous peoples and minorities.”39 Possible followup to the report of the Coastal Fishing Committee is currently the subject of consultations
between the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and the Sámediggi. Local Sami
fishing groups have also emphasized the need for a law to secure local participation in
fisheries and the administration of marine resources.
3.
Continued threats to Sami lands and livelihoods
55.
The Sami way of life, especially in relation to reindeer husbandry, is threatened
significantly by competing usage of land, often promoted by the Governments themselves
through natural resource extraction or other development projects. In all three Nordic
countries, various natural resource extraction and development projects threaten to diminish
areas available for grazing. Already, the construction of buildings and roads, as well as
hydroelectric dams, mining, forestry projects and tourism activities have resulted in loss
and fragmentation of pasture lands, with detrimental effects on reindeer movement and,
consequently, on their reproductive levels and survival.
56.
Some laws related to natural resource extraction in the Nordic States include
provisions requiring, to varying degrees, special consideration of Sami people, their
38
39
CERD/C/FIN/CO/19, para. 14.
NOU 2008:5 (18 February 2008);
15