Fighting to be Herd: Impacts of a Copper Mine on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami Community

This report examines the potential impacts of a proposed Boliden copper mine in Laver on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami community, focusing on the loss of winter pastures and the resulting threats to reindeer herding and human rights.

• The proposed Boliden mine in Laver would affect nearly all of the Semisjaur Njarg community's northern winter pastures through various types of encroachment.
• While Boliden suggests mitigation through supplementary feeding, fencing, and supervision, the company's own environmental impact assessment acknowledges that reindeer herders would likely have to abandon their livelihoods. Boliden's proposed compensation involves offering mine jobs to the herders.
• The report suggests that a mine in Laver would lead to significant breaches of the Sami community's property rights and the individual herders' right to culture, as the mine is planned for the center of winter pastures and would prevent some herders from continuing their practice.
• Reindeer husbandry in the Arctic is currently threatened by climate change, globalization, and socio-economic shifts, but the loss and fragmentation of pastures due to resource extraction, infrastructure, and human activity are among the most serious concerns.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Fighting to be Herd: Impacts of a Copper Mine on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami Community. https://www.sei.org/publications/fighting-to-be-herd-impacts-copper-mine-sami/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Fighting to be Herd: Impacts of a Copper Mine on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami Community. 2019. https://www.sei.org/publications/fighting-to-be-herd-impacts-copper-mine-sami/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Fighting to be Herd: Impacts of a Copper Mine on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami Community |date=30 April 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/fighting-to-be-herd-impacts-copper-mine-sami/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019fighting, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Fighting to be Herd: Impacts of a Copper Mine on the Semisjaur Njarg Sami Community}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/fighting-to-be-herd-impacts-copper-mine-sami/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }