In early 2014 Snowchange was involved in the watershed restoration activities in the Kuivasjärvi area, Parkano, Western Finland, with several key traditional knowledge interviews, land use documentation and visits to the fisheries made. The watershed ecological work will expand through the 2014 with the funds in place from the LEADER EU rural areas grant.
In December 2013 the vendace harvested in winter seining received the protected status of a original product from the EU. Snowchange represents the North Karelian winter seiners in this process and continues to advance the positions of the fishermen while advancing the knowledge about Puruvesi vendace.
Turning to events in near future, in early March 2014 old friends, mr. Gleb Raygorodetsky and Dennis Martinez, both involved in the multi-year IPCCA work in Näätämö watershed, Finland, will make a visit in Finland. Community visits will be organised in Inari, Sevettijärvi, and Näätämö area. Additionally a visit will be made in Lovozero Sámi community of Murmansk, Russia. Plans for the future steps of the collaborative management of salmon will be made.
22nd March – 6th April a delegation of Snowchange and Arkleton Trust staff will visit the nomadic communities of the Lower Kolyma, Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Russia to discuss recent events in the community, review the solar panel project work 2007-2014, and make plans for the 2014-2015. Major updates in April here. This visit is made in cooperation and co-funded with the ELOKA initiative in the USA (www.eloka-arctic.org).
Snowchange will also prominently participate in the Arctic Observing Summit in mid-April in Helsinki, Finland (http://www.arcticobservingsummit.org/) with several key community and Indigenous leaders from the Snowchange Co-op network present. See you there.
That s all from news in Snowchange early in the year!
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