The project was financed by Swedish Energy Agency (Vindval research programme) and primarily investigated how wind power development affects reindeer in the winter grazing area in Sweden. The project was a continuation of a previous project financed by Vindval on the effects of wind power with a focus on the effect on reindeer in summer pasture in the forest.
Wind power is an important part of the renewable energy production in Sweden. A large part of the wind power is developed in the northern part of Sweden and thus ends up in the reindeer herding area. Today, Sweden has reindeer husbandry over half (55%) of the land area and the number of conflicts and court negotiations between the state, companies and reindeer husbandry has increased significantly. The knowledge of how wind power affects reindeer and reindeer herding has increased through our former projects (see publication list below), but there are still uncertainties about how reindeer and reindeer husbandry are affected in the winter grazing area in the forest in Sweden. This knowledge is needed to evaluate any negative effects and risk mitigating measures. Such knowledge is necessary at an early stage to avoid controversial development alternatives, and to facilitate an assessment of the impact.
The project group consists of Anna Skarin (SLU, Project Manager), postdoc Bernardo Brandao Niebuhr dos Santos, Per Sandström (SLU), Moudud Alam (Dalarna University), and the Sami reindeer herding communities Malå sameby (Storliden, Jokkmokksliden, Ytterberg and Åmliden's wind farms), Mittådalens sameby (Glötesvålen's wind farm), Tåssåsens sameby (Mullberg's wind farm) and Vilhelmina Norra sameby (Gabrielsbergets wind farm) leads the work to acquire new knowledge that is highly relevant for administration and authorities to be used at an early stage to reduce or remedy any future conflicts.
Financed by: Energimyndigheten, Vindval
Bernardo B. Niebuhr, Daniela Sant’Ana, Manuela Panzacchi Bram van Moorter, Per Sandström, Ronaldo G. Morato, Anna Skarin. 2022. Renewable energy infrastructure impacts biodiversity beyond the area it occupies. PNAS Vol. 119, No. 48.
Skarin A, Niebuhr B B, Sandström P and Tømmervik H 2022. Den ekologiska bevisföringen i Fosenmålet-Analys av renens användning av vinterbetesmarkerna och konsekvenser av vindkraftutbyggnad. Tidskriftet Utmark.
Tømmervik H, Skarin A, Niebuhr B B and Sandström P 2022. Beregning av tapt beite etter utbygging av vindkraftverk samt kraftlinjer på Fosen. Tidskriftet Utmark.
Out of sight of wind turbines—Reindeer response to wind farms in operation. Skarin A, Sandström P, Alam M. Ecology and Evolution 2018;00:1–14. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4476
Reindeer habitat use in relation to two small wind farms, during preconstruction, construction, and operation. Skarin, A. & Alam, M. Ecology and Evolution. 2017; 00: 1–13. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2941
Wind Farm Construction Impacts Reindeer Migration and Movement Corridors. Skarin A, Nellemann C, Rönnegård L, Sandström P, & Lundqvist H, 2015. Landscape Ecology doi:10.1007/s10980-015-0210-8
Do human activity and infrastructure disturb domesticated reindeer? The need for the reindeers perspective. Skarin A & Åhman B, 2014, Polar Biology, doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1499-5
Skarin, A., Sandström, P., Brandão Niebuhr, B., Alam, M., Adler, S., 2021. Renar, renskötsel och vindkraft: vinter- och barmarksbete (No. 7011), Vindval. Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency), Stockholm.
Vindkraft och renar. En kunskapssammanställning. Strand, O. m.fl. 2018.
Vindkraft og reinsdyr – en kunnskapssyntese. Strand, O., Colman, J.E., Eftestøl, S., Sandström, P., Skarin, A. & Thomassen, J. 2017. - NINA Rapport 1305. 62 s.
Kumulativa effekter av exploateringar på renskötseln. Rapport från kunskapsprogrammet Vindval. Rasmus Kløcker Larsen. mf.l. 2016.
Renar och vindkraft II - vindkraft i drift och effekter på renar och renskötsel. Skarin m.fl. 2016
Renar och Vindkraft. Skarin m.fl. 2013
Spillningsinventering. Anna Skarin och Maria Hörnell-Willebrand 2011