Cumulative Mitigation Plan

Fragmented planning processes of energy, infrastructure, and natural resource development projects represent unpredictable pressures on landscapes and landscape practices. Sámi reindeer husbandry is dependent on functioning ecosystems with an intact system of migration routes and seasonal pastures. This project adress the cumulative effect of historic, current, and future landscape encroachments, and ask how its consequences on reindeer husbandry can be mitigated. The project is based on studies of historic and contemporary maps of reindeer husbandry, literature, fieldwork, ecological registration of local plant species, and publicly available information on the summer reindeer grazing district 33 Spalca and Kvænangen Municipality. Proposing an innovative, Cumulative Mitigation Plan (CMP), the project showcase a continuous and holistic practice of landscape restoration of past and current encroachments and proactive planning of mitigation measures for future development. A main part of CMP is the collection of traditional reindeer husbandry knowledge disseminated through animated maps projected directly on physical models. A feasibility study for relocating a planned field of recreational cottages from an important pasture area to an emptied gravel quarry serves as an example of CMP as a holistic planning tool. CMP works as a buffer between developers the reindeer grazing district, a facilitator for cooperation, a knowledge platform, and a model for shared financial responsibility between developers operating in the municipality for more ambitious mitigation projects.