The largest department in Europe sits rare mineral

A raw iron mine is a rare mineral mineral that increases the ground and changes the methods of old reindeer migration. But with Arctic warming Four times faster than the rest of the planet, shepherds say they need more geographical flexibility, not less, to ensure animals remain.

If a mine is created when depositing rare earth minerals called Per Geijer, which is exposed to Sweden as the largest Europe, KUHMUNEN said it could cut the migration methods used by the village of Sami in our absenteeism completely.

He said that this will be the end of the indigenous way of life for Kohmunin, and his children and colleagues, Sami Raqi Rynire, in this north -north corner of Sweden, about 200 km (124 miles) over the Arctic circle.

“The reindeer is the basic base of Sami culture in Sweden,” said Kohamunin. “Everything is established around the reindeer: food, language, and mountain knowledge. Everything is established around the grazing of reindeer. If you stop exist, a high culture will also stop exist.”

Denzing shepherds followed generations of traditions

Sami sponsors come from the people of Numadi who spread in an area that extends to the far north of Sweden, Norway, Finland The northwestern corner of Russia. Until the sixties of the last century, the members of this original minority were discouraged from the grazing of reindeer, and the Church and the state suppressed their language and culture.

In Sweden alone there is at least 20,000 people With Sami Heritage, although the official count does not exist because the race -based census opposes the law. Today, the Sami village called A Sameby is a state -dictated commercial entity, which determines the number of semi -flexible reindeer that each village can obtain and where they can roam.

“You face a more and more problem that you have a kind of sustainable reindeer and be able to get the reindeer to survive in the winter in the Arctic until next year,” said Stefan Mickelson, a member of Sami Parliament.

In the village of Gabna, Kuhmunen is honored about 2500 to 3000 of reindeer and 15 to 20 shepherds. Their families, about 150 people in total, depend on the final result of the company.

Even before the discovery of a Geijer deposit, they had to deal with the expansion imprint in Kriunavara. The largest underground mine in the world forced the village sponsors to drive reindeer through a longer and more difficult way.

Mining may reduce dependence on China, but it hurts Sami’s shepherds

Swedish officials and LKAB, the state -owned mining company, says the proposed mine of the Geijer mine can reduce Europe’s dependence on rare minerals. LKAB hopes that mining will start there in 2030s.

Besides being necessary for Many types of consumer technologyIncluding mobile phones, solid engines, electric and hybrid compounds, as is considered Decisive to convert the economy Away from fossil fuel towards electricity and renewable energy.

But if the work on Per Geijer, Kuhann said that there will be no other ways for the Gabna to take the east of the mountains in the summer to the grazing pastures full of nutrients rich in winter.

The village will compete for the mine in the court, but Kuhmunen said it was not optimistic.

“It is really difficult to fight a mine. They have all the resources, they have all the means. They have money. We do not.” “We only have our will to exist. To pass these grazing lands to our children.”

Darren Wilson, Vice President of LKAB Products for Private Products, said the mining company is looking for solutions to help Sami sponsors, although it will not speculate what they might be.

“There are possible things we can do and we can explore and we have to continue to engage,” he said. “But I do not underestimate the challenge to do so.”

The effect of climate change on reindeer

Climate change enhances chaos on traditional Sami reindeer.

Global warming led to rain instead of snow during the winter season in Lapland Swedish. Rainfall Where the hungry reindeer cannot reach foodAccording to Anna Skarin, an expert of reindeer and professor of Swedish Agricultural Sciences.

In the summer, mountain temperatures rose to 30 ° C (86 Fahrenheit) and left the reindeer more hot and unable to graze enough to gain the weight needed to maintain it in the winter.

Some in Sweden suggest placing the reindeer on the trucks to transport them between the grazing lands if the Geijer mine is built. But Scarin said that this is not possible because the animals are eaten while moving and that transportation will deprive them of the food while walking from one area to another.

She said, “So, you are somewhat robbing the deportation that they used traditionally for hundreds and thousands of years,” and you will also rob the feed resource that they should have used during that time. ”

For Kuhmunn, this also means the end of the traditions of Sami that generations of reindeer sponsors have gone through this earth.

“How can you tell your people that what we are doing now will stop being in the near future?” He said.

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Seven de Carstero is Kiros, Sweden, contributed to this report.

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