Samiid Riikkasearvi

Geographic Location Sweden
Size of Territory Approximately one-third of the surface of Sweden
Communities 51 Reindeer herding communities
Population Between 20,000 - 40,000
Language(s)|t Sami

The reindeer herding area in Sweden covers approximately 40% of the territory. Swedish reindeer herding communities are legal and administrative entities that have usufruct rights to a geographical area. Within this area, the reindeer herding community grazes their reindeer and uses the resources to sustain their families. These reindeer herding communities cover all the northern parts of Sweden.

Sámiid Riikkasearvi (RSR) is an organization whose members are the reindeer herding communities of northern Sweden. This gives RSR a unique possibility to develop and implement sustainable resource use within the reindeer herding area. Sámi reindeer herding is a traditional livelihood of the Sámi based on sustainable resource use. Sámi reindeer herding does not exploit the resources in the area but sustainably uses them.

Sámi people, the Indigenous Peoples of the area, have managed to keep their traditional livelihood through the ages of modernization and industrialization. It is an achievement that the reindeer herding communities still have access to their areas. RSR is confident that the surrounding society would gain significantly from recognizing Sámi rights to their areas to develop management systems based on Sámi traditional livelihoods.