The implementation of Sámi land rights in the Swedish forestry act

• Main Author: Brännström, Malin
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Várdduo – Centrum för samisk forskning 2024
• Subjects: Law (excluding Law and Society); Juridik (exklusive juridik och samhälle); Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified; Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-219089; https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003220640-8

In northern Sweden, large forest areas are used both for timber production and Sámi reindeer herding, and intense forest management practices have had predominantly negative effects on reindeer herding. Through case law, it is elucidated that Sámi land rights are private property rights based on the longtime use of land. At the same time, landowners own the forest areas. Hence, there exists parallel property rights on the same land. This chapter analyses the recognition and protection of Sámi land rights in the Forestry Act, which regulates the landowners’ forest management. The analysis is based on legal mechanisms that are usually used when property rights relations are regulated within Real Estate Law. This type of legal mechanisms is missing in the Forestry Act, and the legislation does not provide an adequate protection of the land rights of the Sámi. Instead, reindeer herding is regarded as a public interest that is balanced in relation to the public interest of timber production. To achieve a just and sustainable development in line with the rights of Indigenous peoples, there is an urgent need for a legislative reform, and the chapter proposes amendments to provide better protection to the land rights of the Sámi.