Industrial Railway Line and Logging Threaten the Sámi Homeland (Banner - Reindeer Herding Fence) B-Roll

The Indigenous Sámi youth organization, Suoma Sámi Nuorat, Suohpanterror ‘Artivist’ collective and Greenpeace activists demonstrate against industrial exploitation of the Great Northern Forest in the Sámi territory in Northern Finland. An increasing demand for pulp for single use paper products and the exploitation of the Arctic threaten the unfragmented forests that are essential for traditional Sámi reindeer herding. A planned industrial railway would not only cut through the forests of Sámi homeland and destroy their forests but also increase the further exploitation of the Arctic.

The Sámi are drawing a boundary together with Greenpeace activists to keep the industrial exploitation out of the unfragmented forests of the Sámi homeland. The boundaries are marked with red poles and red banners saying “Our Land Our Future” and “No Access Without Consent”. The joint message of the Sámi and Greenpeace is also “Save the Great Northern Forest”. The logging plans of forest areas crucial for reindeer herding in the northernmost part of Finland and the planned industrial railway line have sparked the protest of the Sámi.