Holding on for deer life: Government to propose 30 million kroner more for Norwegian reindeer husbandry amid crisis

The Norwegian government has proposed a further NOK 30 million for a crisis fund to help reindeer husbandry due to a grazing crisis.

Reindeer husbandry demanding

The government wants to make a proposal to the Norwegian parliament (Storting) for a further NOK 30 million in the emergency preparedness fund to help reindeer husbandry survive the current grazing crisis. Last winter’s unprecedented levels of snow and ice saw grazing conditions worsen throughout Northern Norway.

Sandra Borch, Minister of Food and Agriculture (SP), noted in a press release how demanding the situation was. She wanted “an extra allocation of NOK 30 million” to “maintain existing schemes and assist reindeer owners through this year’s grazing crisis.” The worsening grazing conditions have affected areas of Troms, Nordland, and Finnmark and has seen the government now responsible for feeding 160,000 head of reindeer.

Earlier this year both the Ministry of Agriculture (LMD) and the Norwegian Reindeer Husbandry Samí National Association (NRL) increased the emergency preparedness fund by NOK 13.2 million.

Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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