Closures of roads, parking areas and popular mountain cabins are all part of the Norwegian government’s plans to protect the country’s herds of wild reindeer. Objections are rising, though, also over the possible relocation of an internationally acclaimed viewpoint pavilion.
This mountains of Rondane (roughly pronounced “Rawn-dawn-nuh”) have inspired hikers and artists for centuries, and are among the homes to Norway’s unique herds of wild reindeer. New measures are being taken to protect the reindeer, but some are controversial. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
The looming regulations have been branded as everything from “drastic” to inadequate. Environmental organizations including the Norwegian chapter of Friends of the Earth (Naturvernforbundet) fall into the latter description, with one of its leaders calling them “too little, too late.”
Norway is home to Europe’s only wild reindeer herds, which wander mostly over the mountain plateaus of highly scenic Rondane and Dovre, both the sites of national parks. Wild reindeer have also wandered in herds farther south to the Hardanger plateau, but many were killed by lightning there nearly 10 years ago. Some wild reindeer roam as far south as Ryfylkeheiene above Setesdal.
People and vehicles remain the biggest threat to the wild reindeer that Norway is internationally obligated to protect. That’s prompting both the state and the country’s national trekking organization DNT (Den Norske Turistforening) to impose new measures aimed at reining in public access to both Rondane and Dovre. It’s ironic, given longstanding encouragement of public access to the great outdoors, but they don’t want the animals to be disturbed, especially during the spring and early summer when calves are being born.
Farther to the northwest of Rondane are the large mountain plateaus of Dovrefjell, home not only to wild reindeer but also the moskus (musk). People need to respect it, too. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
The wild reindeer need large areas in which to roam undisturbed. “They wander between various areas to find good grazing conditions,” Ingeborg Wessel Finstad, leader of nature and sustainability issues at DNT, told newspaper Aftenposten recently. “At the same time they’re vulnerable to disturbances.” If there are too many people hiking or cars driving by, she said, they can avoid areas vital to their survival.
DNT is therefore taking down signposts that mark around 60 kilometers of hiking trails in both Rondane and Dovrefjell. Some of the most popular run over the heart of Rondane National Park from Høvringen towards Doralen, and from Peer Gynt-hytta to Rondvassbu.
Some of DNT’s popular staffed- and unstaffed cabins and lodges in the area will also be closed for extended periods, most likely from the end of the Easter holidays until late June, and from early autumn until the end of February. The option of self-service accommodation at Bjørnhollia, Rondvassbu and Grimsdalhytta may also be terminated.
Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen of the Labour Party is in charge of measures to protect Norway’s wild reindeer, but is meeting challenges along the way. PHOTO: KMD
The government ministry in charge of climate and environmental issues is also proposing closure and removal of a large parking area at Spranget on Rondane’s western side, a popular entry point to Rondane National Park. Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen was farther down the road to Spranget at Mysusæter on Thursday, where a new parking alternative may be developed with regulated access. Eriksen wanted to discuss and defend such measures with local officials who don’t want to lose the tourism revenues they attract, especially from late spring to early autumn.
Eriksen said he thinks most, however, want to do what’s needed to protect and preserve the reindeer. “Taking care of the reindeer is a project to which we all need to contribute,” Eriksen said, “and I think there’s public support to take care of the reindeer in these areas.”
Norway’s wild reindeer are an attraction themselves, but outdoors enthusiasts are urged to not disturb them in any way. The Norsk Villreinsenter (Norwegian Wild Reindeer Foundation) has even formulated a list of “Wild Reindeer Rules” to consider before embarking on hikes in areas where wild reindeer roam. PHOTO: Anders Mossing/Norsk villreinsenter
It’s not easy for DNT to wind down programs and close facilities in areas where they’ve been built up for years, and which now attract lots of foreign visitors in addition to Norwegians. DNT is, however, taking on at least some of the responsibility for visitors’ disturbance of the wild reindeer, acknowledging that the animals’ wilderness area has shrunk over the years. It thus intends to “channel” visitors towards areas of the mountains that can better tolerate them.
Hovland of Friends of the Earth isn’t satisfied. He thinks DNT needs to issue warnings on social media and other channels to target especially foreign visitors, and urge them to avoid sensitive areas of the mountains. He also thinks DNT’s large serviced lodges should be closed, but DNT resists that, claiming other measures should be taken first.
“This is a very complex problem with complex solutions,” Manuela Panzacchi of the Norwegian Center for Nature Research (NINA) told Aftenposten. NINA has developed its own database on wild reindeer that shows tourism accounting for 41 percent of the adverse impact on the animals in Rondane in the summer season. At Snøhetta in Dovre, tourism accounted for fully 47 percent.
The E6 highway crosses over the high mountain plateau at Dovrefjell, shown here with the view to the peak known as Snøhetta. Both wild reindeer and moskus (musk) roam here, but are easily disturbed. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
That’s where the state is seriously considering that the prize-winning observation pavilion known as “Viewpoint Snøhetta,” just off the E6 highway over Dovrefjella, be closed and moved to the other side of the highway. The pavilion, which attracts around 30,000 visitors a year, opened in 2011 and has won acclaim for its architecture and how it blends in with the nature.
The thousands stopping to visit, however, run the risk of disturbing wild reindeer in the area. Most hope to catch a glimpse of the moskus (wild musk) that also graze in Dovre, and reindeer can wander past as well. “There’s a need to study whether Viewpoint Snøhetta should be moved to another area out of consideration to the wild reindeer,” says Kristoffer Hansen, a state secretary in the ministry.
More than 60 other proposed measures will also now be examined and likely enacted by the ministry after input from the local community on Thursday. Local Mayor Eldri Siem of the rural-oriented Center Party objected strongly to many of the plans from Eriksen’s ministry, fearing they’d be “run over by the government.” Her deputy mayor, also from the Center Party, objected as well, claiming that the state plans to save the reindeer would ruin the local tourism business in the local municipality of Sel. He called proposed state compensation plans “a joke,” and not enough to cover potential business losses. The state is setting aside just over NOK 42 million to fund wild reindeer protection initiagitves.
“I have respect for local officials who disagree with the measures we’re taking,” Eriksen said. “We’re making the decisions we feel are right to help the wild reindeer make a comeback.” The parking lot that’s likely to be closed, meanwhile is located on state land, giving the ministry authority over it. Some local reindeer experts agree its closure will help the reindeer even though, as one local resident noted, actual results won’t be known for at least 10, 20 or 30 years.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
