Examining limits and barriers to climate change adaptation in an Indigenous reindeer herding community

Abstract

Based on recognized gaps in adaptation research the article begins by identifying the need to empirically investigate the ‘governance of adaptation’. Drawing on Kooiman's interactive governance framework, the study examines through collaborative methodology how adaptation agency and the space for adaptation is constructed and restricted in the case of an Indigenous reindeer herding community in Sweden. Findings demonstrate that climate change and variability is currently a matter of concern. The greatest problem, however, is the diminishing space for adaptation due to accumulated pressure of predation and competing land-uses in combination with herders’ lack of direct and indirect power to influence the actors and institutional factors currently limiting adaptation options. This study carries relevance not only for reindeer herding communities in Sweden, but also for the general adaptation literature in demonstrating that limits and barriers to adaptation can be essentially political; requiring the making of hard choices and hence active governmental intervention. It also shows that marginalized groups, even in contexts where adaptive capacity is considered high, are likely to remain highly vulnerable with restricted adaptation opportunities unless deliberate structural and institutional transformation are initiated.

Keywords:

• climate change
• adaptation
• governance
• reindeer herding
• reindeer husbandry
• Indigenous
• Sami
• participation

Acknowledgements

This study originates from a community-initiated research project on adaptation to climate change (see Löf et al., 2012) and the author would like to extend her thanks to the project group and to all members of Vilhelmina North RHD who participated in the study and devoted time for sharing their knowledge and perspectives. Research was funded by the Sami Parliament and by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning. Thanks also to Mats Borrie for providing figures and to the anonymous reviewers for insightful comments and guidance.