September brings major international events, restoration season draws towards its end, and new book on pastoralism. Fisheries continue with traps and traditional dip netting.

Autumn is here and in fisheries traps are in lake Onkamo and later towards October cleaning of spawning sites of endangered whitefish will continue on Koitajoki river. We will participate in the Low Impact Fishers of Europe summit in Rome in early September, where Captain Karoliina will lead efforts to convey messages from northern freshwater harvests and culture. We also participated in August in river Tornio on the cultural fishery of dip netting at Kukkolankoski which has been recognized in recent years as a cultural heritage. This was the site of the 2018 Festival of Northern Fishing Traditions.

In rewilding and restoration August and early September are devoted to the continued work on Koitajoki and Arctic Circle peatlands. Possoli canyon from Salla, Eastern Lapland marks a major ecological corridor close to the national park at the borderlands as a new site. Also in Salla, a major peatland restoration effort will commence in Autumn in the Koutelo river catchment. New sites will be added in the Autumn.

Pacific Tour will commence in early September 2026. Delegations will catch up with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC events in Sri Lanka, then visits to the restoration sites in Aotearoa, New Zealand will follow, and onwards to Pacific sites on the western coast and areas of Canada. The tour will culminate in late September and early October in a large workshop in Canada on questions of Circumpolar simultaneous peatlands work and Pacific wetlands restoration. More on that later in September.

In other international news, a new book with Snowchange nomadic case study has been released, titled “Pastoralist Voices from the Territories: Stories of Governance, Care, and Resilience“. Pastoralists speak directly about their relationships with land, water, animals and community. These stories illuminate the governance systems, cultural practices and everyday acts of care through which pastoral communities sustain their territories. Together, they reveal both the resilience of pastoral ways of life and the pressures communities face from land conversion, climate change, insecure tenure and exclusionary policies. The whole book can be downloaded here.

A new documentary highlights the impact of Pamilo hydropower station to lake Koitere and other water bodies, land locked salmon and local communities in Koitajoki.

This documentary contains materials of community-based observations of hydropower impacts and ecological change in Koitajoki catchment, North Karelia. It is the home of a large Snowchange restoration project funded by Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme.

Impacts have accumulated since 1950s, including the loss of the migratory routes and habitat for the unique land locked salmon. A new restoration plan has been developed to address some of the issues.

You can see the film here.

August brings late summer restoration and forest actions to view, fisheries are beginning, Le Monde covers Snowchange rewilding actions in the Eastern Finland and Lapland. Several international events mark the Autumn.

Rewilding and restoration has proceeded in summer. Highlights of the season include the arrival of Paanneoja Sámi OGF forest and ecological corridor up in Muotkatunturi Wilderness Area, Inari, of 100 hectares and several kilometers. Most of the sites focused in June and July into Arctic Circle peatlands and forests.

In Kemijärvi, Karvakkoselkä 70 hectare topographically important spring-fed peatland and forest system supports existing Snowchange sites in close vicinity. In Salla, Vilmajoki ecological corridor is an important old growth forest and flood plain. Joukahaisoja, as a part of the wider lake Unari catchment work in Sodankylä can be assessed to be a rather completely intact trout river in North Boreal. It can be considered a pearl of boreal ecosystems.

Most important of the summer restoration and rewilding actions continued in Salla and Eastern Lapland. Hand restoration in Kotala, Latoaukia and Orahaara provided for the first modern catchment and peatland restoration actions on these sites, and planning and scoping of Koutelo River catchment restoration continued with expansion of 50 hectares of Pahajoenjänkä and digger restoration expected either late in 2026 or 2027. This peatland has fully intact old growth forest islands supporting outstanding boreal biodiversity. In other regions, planning and licensing for major post-peat mining sites in Ranua and river restoration continued and the Koitajoki restoration proceeded at a rapid pace.

International media visited through the season – a major German magazine will cover Sámi forest work later in the year. Le Monde, prominent French newspaper wrote about our peatland work and this is available here. Autumn is expected to be busy with several IPCC and UN events, Snowchange workshops on boreal peatland restoration and Pacific work.

Snow25 celebrations are over, deep summer begins and Snowchange takes it slower in July, but cultural work continues.

In June we had major boreal forest restoration under way in North boreal Sámi forest of Alttokangas, where appr. one hectare of clear-cut areas was burned for revitalisation of a logged area. Peatland restoration proceeded in Koitajoki river catchment and plans for Arctic Circle peatland restoration were made, they will commence in July. Fisheries helped Onkamo lakes with the removal of bream, ide and other coarse fish.

Several new sites, including boreal forests and large peatlands joined Snowchange in June. Out of these sites, now at 10,000 hectares, we have allocated Tongosoiva, a 100 hectare old growth forest to be the namesake site of one of our founders Eero Murtomäki, in Pelkosenniemi. This highlights the lifework he has done with nature and for nature. With these celebrations, we wish a great summer and see you in August!

Snowchange celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Cooperative lands are close to 10,000 hectares across over 200 sites and through land concessions 63,000 hectares are under positive influence from rewilding. Indigenous and community delegates, staff and close allies gather on 16th June to Finland to celebrate.

Summer is here and the boreal and Arctic landscapes bathe in the night without night. New peatlands and forests have been added and we expect the 10,000 hectares to be reached in June. Karoliina leads the fisheries on traps, and catches have been plentiful. This month we also have seen media attention to the rewilding programme from GEO and Le Monde making extended visits.

June 16th we gather in Snowchange headquarters, members of the international steering committee, Indigenous delegates, community representatives and other friends and allies to celebrate SNOW25 through a new exhibit, and other means. We thank all supporters, friends and the like for this quarter of a century and will be back with summer news later in the month.