Last Friday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Sweden where she had a meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
The meeting had a major focus on forest issues and the green transition.
Both the Nature Conservation Association and Greenpeace have been critical of the fact that they were not invited but that the meeting only had representatives from the Swedish forest industry.
Even Amnesty Sápmi is now strongly critical of the meeting and questions why Sami representatives were not invited as the issues concern Sami interests and rights.
"The ground is shrinking"
- In just 60 years, lichen-rich woodlands, which are absolutely crucial for reindeer grazing, have decreased by 71 percent in Sweden.
This is shown by research from the Swedish University of Agriculture.
The land is shrinking and the reindeer's food is disappearing with today's clear-cutting, says Kerstin Andersson from Amnesty Sápmi in a press release and continues:
- We have expectations that the government involves Sami representatives in all discussions about forestry in reindeer herding areas, also in meetings with EU representatives.
In addition, the government should clarify respect for indigenous rights in its ownership directives for Sveaskog.
Amnesty has now written a list of demands demanding that the prime minister and the government act in accordance with the indigenous declaration.
They want, among other things, to give the Sami people influence and power in matters that affect them, to stop exploiting Sami land without free, informed prior consent and climate change in a way that is fast and fair and that is based on Sami knowledge and respects Sami rights.