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

The report examines how a proposed copper mine in Laver would affect the Semisjaur Njarg Sami community, specifically regarding the loss of winter pastures and the threat to reindeer herding as a cultural practice. It argues that Boliden's proposed mitigation strategies, such as supplementary feeding and offering mining jobs to herders, are insufficient to compensate for the loss of traditional livelihoods. The document concludes that the mine would likely result in significant breaches of the community's property rights and individual rights to culture, necessitating a full human rights impact assessment.

• The proposed mine in Laver would affect nearly all of the Semisjaur Njarg community's northern winter pastures through various forms of encroachment.
• While Boliden suggests mitigation through supplementary feeding, fencing, and increased supervision, the company's own environmental impact assessment acknowledges that reindeer herders would likely have to abandon their livelihoods.
• The report asserts that the mine would cause 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 most critical concern is the fragmentation and loss of pastures due to human activity, resource extraction, and infrastructure.

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} }