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Arctic Yearbook 2014
Thirdly, not only is nature conservation problematic from the point of view of social justice, but also
resource exploitation for the benefit of actors external to the region has evoked discussions. Recent
debates include mining and its costs and benefits for local actors in Gállok, Sweden and in various
sites in northern Finland. On the other hand, similar contradictions exist regarding forestry. For
example, in Muonio in northern Finland, local reindeer herders as well as tourism entrepreneurs
argued that loggings in old-growth forests should be stopped because the value of the natural capital
of the forests for the local people had a higher standing than the revenues obtained from loggings
(Sarkki 2011). A new settlement in the dispute was agreed upon in 2014. Originally the Muonio deal
was set to expire in 2017, but in April 2014 Metsähallitus, Muonio municipality, and local
stakeholders including the reindeer herding co-operative and tourism businesses in the area reached
an agreement about the land use of 13,300 ha. This new agreement is in force until 2040. It
expanded the protected area by 2000 hectares (of this 53% is forest). Forestry use will continue on
4600 hectares (35% of total area), but according to the agreement, only moderate thinning, selective
loggings or small-scale openings are allowed on forest land. The needs of tourism and reindeer
herding as well as landscape and ecological values should be taken into consideration in logging
operations (Ylimuonion valtionmaiden 2014). In the near future it will be demonstrated how solid
the agreement based on new methods and moderate loggings will be (Jokinen 2014).
Discrepancy Between Governance Ideals and Practice
The notion of good governance would entail that decisions be legitimized by exploring various views
and values in a fair and balanced manner (Stirling 2008). However, there seems to be discrepancy
between ideal goals of participation and actual practices, especially if seen from multiple actors’
points of view. The following points are also relevant for the growing body of literature on comanagement in the Arctic (Armitage et al. 2011).
Firstly, regarding forestry planning in Finland, Metsähallitus has many times initiated controversial
loggings after planning processes have been finalised. From Metsähallitus’ position, the decisionmaking process has been balanced and fair, while reindeer herders and ENGOs argue that they have
not had genuine opportunities to participate, and that decision-making processes aim not to produce
legitimate decisions, but justify loggings (Raitio 2008; Sarkki 2011). Thus, there is a gap in how
different actors understand the legitimacy of forestry governance in state forests of northern
Finland.
Secondly, the goal of partic \][ۈ\