Recently, news reported that hundreds of cairns are being built by tourists at the Arctic Circle on Saltfjellet. It is a landscape protection area with the purpose of taking care of nature, which is unique with many Sami cultural monuments. But now the most intense areas of cairn building have only sand and stone left, and no vegetation. But the construction bonanza for the tourists does not only destroy nature. It also destroys reindeer husbandry. – Scare effect on reindeer – I’ve never seen it this bad before. This is what Olof Anders Kuhmunen, manager of the Saltfjellet reindeer herding district, tells news, who says that cairn construction has accelerated in recent years. NEVER SEEN SO MANY: There are only more and more cairns every year and Olof Anders Kuhmunen says he has never seen so many cairns as now. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news – Construction began on a small scale. But now it has expanded with fairly high cairns and it has been built far up in the mountains, he says. – It most resembles a construction site, says Kuhmunen. As a result of cairn building, nature is trampled down high up on the mountainside and far into the mountain, he says. – It has a frightening effect on the reindeer because it avoids that area since something artificial and new has arrived, says Kuhmunen. – Losing grazing areas He says that the board of the Saltfjellet reindeer herding district believes it is a problem that needs to be solved. – We are losing grazing areas and they are getting smaller and smaller. We must take care of all the pastures we have, because they are precious to us. Therefore, he now hopes that some measures will be taken. – We don’t have so much nature here that we can just destroy it. We must protect what little we have left. Now he hopes that the authorities will take action and find a solution to the problem. – So that there will be a system and not such wild construction as it is today. – Action must be taken here! – The most extreme thing I’ve seen. It is almost a little uncomfortable to see how one has adapted to nature. That’s what Knut Perander in Innovation Norway tells news about the cairn building at the Arctic Circle. NOT JUST cairns: Some tourists don’t just make cairns. Some write their name in stone. Photo: Marius Eriksen Guttormsen / news He believes the cairn building on Saltfjellet is on a completely different scale than what he has heard about previously. – Action must be taken here immediately, he says. He believes that it is worthy of criticism of the tourists who build the cairns, but emphasizes that many do not have the same experience as Norwegians in traveling in nature. – We have to look at how we, as hosts for the tourists, can make it easier for them to understand the rules. Knut Perander is head of travel development at Innovation Norway. Photo: TOM HANSEN Perander believes it is important that we become better at informing tourists about how to behave in nature so that they do not become a social problem. – When we market Norway as a travel destination, we must follow up by ensuring that it is possible to act well as a tourist, says Perander. – We must be clear about the rules that apply when traveling in nature, he concludes. – Need more information to Mayor of Rana municipality Geir Waage (AP) tells news that there are signs saying that it is not allowed to build cairns, but that it is not enough. Geir Waage (AP is the mayor of Rana municipality. Photo: Frank Nygård / news – More notices and posters should be put up in which people draw attention in several languages to the fact that it is forbidden to build cairns, says Waage. – There needs to be more information to and more posters so that tourists who come there are informed that this is prohibited, in a better way than today, he adds
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Cairn construction on Saltfjellet: – Has a deterrent effect on reindeer – news Sápmi
