1. Käsivarsi Case 2012-2013: Management Planning Project for a wilderness area or a new N.P.? 18.9.2013 Jokkmokk Arja Vasama

3. Käsivarsi Wilderness 3

4. Management Planning Area 2012 Malla is strictly protected Nature Reserve on Saana there are two small protected areas the area around Saana and Kilpisjärvi village is not protected Käsivarsi Wilderness, Malla and Saana are all Natura 2000 - areas Wilderness area is designed according to Wilderness Act, the others to Nature Conservation Act All area is state-owned 4

5. Käsivarsi Wilderness Area management plan was made in 1999, but Env.Min. didn’t approve it before 2008 There was a need to renovate it because the world has been changing: there are new tourism products and peoples’ hiking habits have changed also Saana fjell and the the whole area around Kilpisjärvi village is very popular, and needed management as well Officially Malla is the one and only protected area in Finland were reindeer grazing is not allowed. Unfortunately reindeer have occupied the area and a discussion has been going on whether it should be fenced: should be decided during the planning process 5

6. First we looked for all interest groups using the area or somehow interested in it and asked them to nominate their representative in the negotiating board 20 persons were nominated, from 15 different organisations (Enontekiö municipality, local entrepreneurs, Saami Parliament, Saami museum, Reindeer Herders Ass., Käsivarsi reindeer herding cooperative, Karesuvanto and Kilpisjärvi villages, FANC Lapland, Forest Research Institute, local hunting and fishing organisations, Suomen latu (the Outdoor Association of Finland, Lapinkylät) MH has committed to Akwe:Kon –process. In this case we didn’t have the guidelines yet, and Saami Parliament has 4 representatives in the board. According to our new guidelines, it is better to have a separate Akwe:Kon -group 6

7. 7 Management planning contents in protected areas

8. Basic data collected by NHS Biotope inventories Flora inventories and surveys Inventorying of birds of prey and other avifauna Monitoring of bear, wolverine, wolf and Arctic fox, Fish surveys Butterfly and moth surveys Visitor monitoring and visitor surveys 8

9. Cultural Heritage Inventories near to Kilpisjärvi Village 2010-2011 and in the wilderness area 2012 Tens of new prehistoric relics found, many other cultural heritage sites mapped One of the most interesting objects was an arrowhead, found near to the Norwegian border in 2012. It might be very old and only few of them have ever been found in Finland 9

10. Working with the negotiating board Meetings held Discussion about values, different interest groups value the areas in different ways Cultural values, nature values, Fishing, hunting, reindeer herding, tourism… Is something threatening these values? What is needed to make sure that we don’t lose anything valuable? 10

11. N.P. plan Last November our work changed Min.Env. got 4 proposals for new N.P:s, one of them Käsivarren suurtunturit Ministry asked MH to find out what are the preconditions for a N.P. We continued with the same stakeholders Tight time schedule, beginning in Feb -13 Minister Niinistö visited Kilpisjärvi in June At the beginning of the process minister promised not to establish a N.P. without local support Municipality and the tourist enterpreneurs were against the idea at the very beginning, before they even knew what is coming 11

12. At the moment The local opinions are very divided Mostly the common opinion seems to be strongly against the park, but N.P. has got some support also, (often silent) Local people are afraid that they’ll lose their rights, for instance they would not be allowed to drive skidoos freely in the park Entrepreneurs fear that the park would stop their businesses at once because the use of motorized vehicles would be forbidden MH has been trying to find out these fears and whether it is possible to make compromises and find a solution to at least most of them 12

13. Participatory tools used during the process Several meetings with the negotiating board Public meetings: Hetta, Karesuvanto and Kilpisjärvi. In 2012 thema management planning and 2013 N.P. Internet discussion 2012. (M.P.) and 2013 (N.P.) http://yhteiso.luontoon.fi/keskustelupalsta/, (in saami also), http://yhteiso.luontoon.fi/keskustelupalsta/ During the N.P. process several questionnaires with which MH tried to find out which part of the possible park area were the most important for stakeholders and what are their main ways to use the area 13

14. Käsivarsi N.P. Plan 14 Smallest area (A) around Kilpisjärvi only 7500 ha The biggest area (A+B+C+D) 230 000 ha Unique landscape and nature, especially A and B-areas N.B! transboundary cooperation (Reisa)

15. What next? N.P. survey draft will be published in the end of September and MH asks for opinions on it Everybody has the right to say MH collects the opinions and passes them and the whole survey to ministry before Christmas Minister Niinistö makes the final decision whether or not he’s going to begin the process in Government and Parliament And then the management planning will go on again.. 15

16. Kiitos!