We mourn the loss of two Indigenous knowledge holders from the Russian Arctic. Pyotr Kaurgin, a Chukchi reindeer herder and leader of the nomadic community of Turvaurgin in Siberia and Alexander Paul, Kola Sámi from Murmansk, have left us.

Pyotr Kaurgin comes from a long line and family of nomadic reindeer herders in the Lower Kolyma region of Sakha-Yakutia. He served as the co-lead for the nomadic community of Turvaurgin. As a respected Elder and knowledge holder he was leading efforts to establish solar electrification of the reindeer camps, establishment of nomadic education amongst the Chukchi of the region and reforms to the herding. Kaurgin is known world-wide for his vast contributions, detection and observation of climate change impacts to tundra, coastal and Siberian ecosystems. He was a key note speaker in several United Nations, Arctic Council and other international forums and believed in the large collaboration efforts Snowchange advanced when it was still possible. Kaurgin believed the changes under way in his tundra home can be navigated as long as people are on their land and live with her. 

Alexander Paul, a Kola Sámi knowledge holder, has also passed. Alexander worked in assessments of the region and its remote coast lines since the 2000s. He worked with several teams to assess the marine and ecosystem changes as seen by local residents and Sámi knowledge and contributed to several scientific and regional reports through his innovative, extensive and long field missions to remote, roadless communities. We remember Sasha with great fondness and offer condolences to the close ones.

April is here with “heating” of the activities across the board – new science, sudden end of winter fishing, new sites from the Arctic, and a Pacific tour are in the works.

Winter seining comes to a sudden halt with unexpected, very warm spring. Ice conditions shifted in days to end the fishery for the season. Captain Karoliina is planning summer sites, gear and timetables and we expect to commence this in late April, early May.

Landscape Rewilding Programme restoration activities included moving of support materials to river restoration in Koitajoki, and expanding the sites over at the Arctic Circle. A part of the high biodiversity Löysäkinaapa in Sodankylä, totalling at 55 hectares, and expansion of boreal forests in Kemijoki support the black grouse and other birds, as well as other benefits of peatland restoration. Preparations for the Autumn Workshop in North American side of peatlands initiative continued.

This month in new science from Snowchange the most important paper was a systems analysis of Oura Archipelago of the west coast of Finland. More specifically Oura used to be the hub of small-scale commercial coastal fisheries in Finland. The archipelago can be considered a biocultural landscape – a nexus of human-nature activity with considerable depth and spatial relevance. This article explores how the relationship between political, economic and social factors have contributed to creating internal and external interpretations of the archipelago. 

Internal perspectives of the Archipelago as a landscape stem from the fishing community or Oura itself. Whilst interpretations of the archipelago as an external demarcation stem from actors such as Finnish state authorities and the European Union. More specifically we situate the Oura Archipelago in the nexus of conservation, traditional culture and geography, with elements of political ecology. Our research question concerns the quality of the interface between a small marine community and external governance. We investigate this through brief, relevant case studies from Oura – the practices of drift netting, seal hunting and, finally, the arrival of marine conservation. We also refer briefly to consider the potential of marine restoration and rewilding as a solution. Full article here.

Secondly the new Dictionary of Radical Alternatives has been released and it includes an interpretation of hiisi – a concept for domestic notion in Finnish of a Community-Conserved Area. Hiisi has several layered meanings in Finnish and related languages but in its core it refers to a sacred place, grove, forest, a graveyeard in the forest or other sacred place in the old Finnish forest religion. Some of the epic songs and early documentation refers hiisi to be a Forest power that controls animals and the hunt. These meanings are similar across the taiga boreal forest zone of the northern part of Earth. This article traces the evolution and subsequent loss of hiisi in Finland from the 13th century to 2025. The article proposes that this endemic cultural concept is the equivalent of the English concept community-conserved area – ICCA. The article mentions a long self-reflection process in Finland to find appropriate cultural concept of this important, emergent conservation meaning. Hiisi, despite the loss of meaning between 1700-1900s, links both the ancient and the re-emergent meanings associated with community- and village-relevant forests, groves and the biocultural and endemic meanings associated with them. The article also presents evidence of similar concepts from related languages Udmurtian and Estonian, strengthening the argument. Article here.

Additionally recognized Indigenous leader Sutej Hugu contributes to the same dictionary. Masling is a special word used to praise the soundscape of waterfalls and the swarming of honeybees—sounds that inspired the legendary group singing Pasibutbut of the Bunun Isbukun people (based in mountain areas of central and southern Taiwan). Over time, it has come to serve as a unique metaphor and symbol for the highest inner qualities of a person: an unconditional calm and creativity that reframes difficulties into potential solutions, and the capacity to turn a world vision into action—transforming an unjust world order while sustaining dynamic balance and dialectical harmony. See here.

Lastly April includes a range of Pacific actions. Delegations across the region from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Australia and other geographies will travel to Taiwan for a workshop on community-led marine restoration as a part of the Species on the Move 2026 Conference. This will strengthen the work and prepare for the 2027 Festival of Fishing Traditions in Pongso no Tao. Additionally the tour continues to strengthen and build relations in Vanuatu and boost the actions of the small grants programme. In Aotearoa the Maori-led Te Anamāhanga Wetland Restoration Project continues with partial support from Snowchange for 2026 and collaborations are expected to be expanded this year.

Spring proceeds with great steps in the North and summer looms in the horizon!

Spring begins. Winter seining is in full swing. During February one of the most significant forests of rewilding programme, Rahekangas, was secured, appearances in US media on rewilding and fisheries and new science papers out. A new database of Indigenous knowledge of bowhead whales is released.

March continues winter seining. Catches have varied and ice conditions are strong but hard. Fishers from Tornio river arrive next week as well as Prof. David Barkin from Mexico, to participate in a workshop devoted to sustainability.

David Barkin holds a PhD in Economics from Yale University and is Distinguished Professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco Campus in Mexico City. He collaborated in the founding of the Ecodevelopment Center in 1974. He received the National Prize for Political Economy in 1979. He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and is an Emeritus member of the National Research Council. He collaborates with indigenous and peasant communities to promote the sustainable management of regional resources. Many of these communities are engaged in activities to develop new institutions, advancing towards the construction of post-capitalist societies by fostering new forms of coexistence and alternatives to development to move towards a world of ‘good living’.

Rahekangas, a 170-hectare boreal forest and peatland complex in Koitajoki joined the Landscape Rewilding Programme in February.  Rahekangas Forest and Peatland Complex is a part of a nationally relevant Kelsimä river valley where very large restoration actions have been carried out, for example on Rahesuo, Kaitoinsuo and Valkeasuo peatlands – together these rewilding sites and conservation sites constitute a valley of peatlands and boreal forests of thousands of hectares and can be considered to be of national relevance. Snowchange has restored Rahesuo and several of the surrounding habitats. Rahekangas contains 47 hectares of intact peatlands, it is directly a part of the Natura site (Valkeajärvi), there are subsurface water sources and a stream – Rahepuro, that runs on the site.

Mongabay reports on the Circumpolar peatland initiative here. Secondly, the History Channel reports on the “oldest ice fishing” in the world, here. Lastly, a new science paper reports on the status of freshwaters in the Arctic. 

Snowchange has also released a new unique Indigenous knowledge database of bowhead whale from Chukotka, Nunavut and Greenland. These consented materials have been collected from open sources and archives. The materials from Chukotka are based on archival and literature sources. The database is here.

This collection of StoryMaps presents knowledge and observations from Indigenous communities in Chukotka, Greenland and Nunavut, as well as scholarly works, concerning the importance, status and trends of the Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus).

Chukotka

The cultural relationship with bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus, Zelensky et al. 1997, Bogoslovskaya et al. 2016, Melnikov and Zdor 2018) and the Chukchi and the Siberian Yupiaq of Chukotka is old and extremely relevant (Bogoslovskaya et al. 2016). 

Greenland

Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), Arfivik in Greenlandic, have historically held deep cultural and subsistence importance for Inuit communities in Greenland. Once nearly eradicated by commercial Euro-American whaling between the 17th and 19th centuries, bowhead populations have gradually recovered especially in West Greenland after nearly 80 years of protection.

Nunavut

The Inuit from Nunavut, Canada have had a cultural relationship with bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) or arviq for a long time (Bennett and Rowley 2004, Reeves and Lee 2022). Harvesting the bowhead whale is and has been, as all Inuit hunting activities, a part of a large cultural whole in Nunavut.

Finally a new science paper summarizes that Arctic freshwater biodiversity is rapidly changing due to climate warming, resource extraction,infrastructure development, and landscape transformation.To improve understanding, predict future responses, and inform policy formulation, research needs must be clearly identified. Using a horizon scan survey, Arctic freshwater experts from government, international agencies, and Indigenous Peoples identified 77 biodiversity research questions with 17 highlighted as most important for near term assessment.

These questions span nine thematic categories:

• biodiversity and taxonomic challenges
• hydrological change,
• productivity and food webs
• ecosystem connectivity methods
• monitoring andassessment
• permafrost change
• winter ecology
• anthropogenic development
• Indigenous Knowledge

Climate change emerged as the major driver among allcategories and research questions. A key priority identified was the urgent need for long-term, harmonized monitoring programs among Arctic countries. Multiple knowledge gaps detected suggest that circumpolar research collaborations are required to tackle these issues.

The paper is available here.

February begins in very cold temperatures across Finland at -35 C. Winter seining is under way in tough conditions but with good catches as well. New funding associated with the Earthshot Prize expand the restoration efforts for 2026. Equally so, a new LIFE EU funding for support of wild forest reindeer will last until 2032.

Captain Karoliina has led efforts on the ice with winter seining. Ice conditions are very hard, but larger catches mark the turn towards more Spring daylight. This seining helps remove nutrients from a very clear lake of Puruvesi, which you can see in a video here.

New funding has emerged. Today, the Bezos Earth Fund announced a collaboration to fund 48 pioneering solutions over the next three years with The Earthshot Prize. The initiative will identify and support innovators from The Earthshot Prize’s global pool of nominations which have not been selected as Finalists for the Prize, helping accelerate transformative projects that drive meaningful progress in climate mitigation and nature protection. 

The Bezos Earth Fund will provide $4.8 million, over three years, to back 16 solutions each year. The projects will be sourced from the extensive network of high-impact environmental innovations that have been nominated for The Earthshot Prize – reflecting the Prize’s mission to mobilise a decade of action for the planet.

The first 16 organisations will receive $100,000 to help expand their operations and amplify their impact. From harnessing cutting-edge technology to empowering local communities, these grantees will represent the bold, creative innovation needed to reimagine what’s possible for people and the planet.

This first announced grantees are:

Air Protein, Inc., Climatenza Solar, Instituto Floresta Viva, Forum Konservasi Leuser, Fundación Rewilding Argentina, Hyperion Robotics, InPlanet, Lasso, Mandai Nature, Mati Carbon, MERMAID, Asociación Conservacionista Misión Tiburón, Simple Planet, Snowchange Cooperative, tHEMEat Company, and UP Catalyst.

Jason Knauf LVO, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, said: 

“Partnering with the Bezos Earth Fund on this unique funding initiative is a powerful testament to both organisations’ commitment to elevating and scaling breakthrough climate solutions. The Earthshot Prize selects 15 Finalists each year, but our wider pool of nominations represents a global pipeline of innovators and investable solutions that benefit both people and planet. Collaborating with the Bezos Earth Fund to support additional high-potential solutions is at the heart of commitment to working with partners who share our vision. By combining our strengths to support 48 carefully selected grantees from The Earthshot Prize’s pool of nominations, our partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund means we will continue to drive systemic change beyond our annual Prize cycle, delivering real-world impact at scale and speed.”

The Earthshot Prize is the world’s most impactful and prestigious award connecting innovators, funders, businesses, and communities to back climate leaders and restore confidence in humanity’s ability to protect the planet.

Lastly the work on a new LIFE Project from the European Union has begun to support the wild forest reindeer. Finland has secured substantial EU LIFE funding to support the conservation and population management of the Finnish wild forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus), a native subspecies of the circumpolarly distributed reindeer. The seven-year project, LIFEline4Fennicus, aims to strengthen the long-term viability of the population through targeted conservation measures.

Starting in 2026, the project builds on the updated conservation and management plan for the wild forest reindeer and continues the work of the earlier WildForestReideerLIFE project, which concluded in 2023. The new project introduces a wide range of conservation actions to safeguard the future of this forest dwelling subspecies.

“The backbone of the project consists of reinforcements in Lauhanvuori and Seitseminen National Parks and a reintroduction in Tiilikkajärvi National Park,” says Milla Niemi, senior specialist at Metsähallitus and lead author of the funding proposal.

“We will also continue and expand our collaboration with reindeer herding cooperatives to protect the genetic integrity of the wild forest reindeer, improve our understanding of its habitat use, and restore extensive areas of suitable habitat in preparation for its possible later return to North Karelia,” she adds.

In addition to proven methods, the project will also pioneer new approaches. These include the development of assisted reproductive technologies for the wild forest reindeer and the biobanking of genetic material.

“This will help maintain the genetic diversity of the captive population and ensure the availability of suitable founder individuals for future reinforcements and reintroductions,” Niemi explains. The new techniques will also provide important safeguards in the event of a sudden population decline, such as one caused by a disease outbreak.

The wild forest reindeer once ranged widely across Finland and was found throughout the country as recently as the 17th century. By the 1920s, however, it had been hunted to extinction within national borders. A natural recovery began in the 1950s, enabled by a remnant population that had survived just across the eastern border. Today, the subspecies occurs in Finland and parts of northwestern Russia. The total global population is estimated at around 5,000 individuals, with approximately 3,000 living in Finland, where the main threats to the species include habitat fragmentation, predation by large carnivores, and traffic. In Russia, poaching has been a serious concern.

The LIFEline4Fennicus project is coordinated by Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland. Project partners include the Natural Resources Institute Finland, Snowchange Cooperative, Korkeasaari Zoo, and Ranua Wildlife Park. In addition to the EU LIFE Programme, the project is supported by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of the Environment, the European Wildlife Comeback Fund, the Raija and Ossi Tuuliainen Foundation, and the participating organisations themselves. The total budget is approximately EUR 9.55 million, of which 60 % is covered by EU funding.

The LIFE Programme is the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It supports nature conservation projects and the implementation of EU environmental policy.

In January over 380 hectares of old growth and natural forests have been included into the Landscape Rewilding Programme. Additionally a site in Suomussalmi celebrates the legacy of a Karelian rune singer Jussi Huovinen.

Pauttiselkä old growth forest is a major Sámi reindeer herding forest in the community of Vuotso. It is directly linked with the UKK National Park and Sompio strict nature reserve. At 100 hectares it portrays outstanding biodiversity and natural values.

Two other major forest-peatland complexes open the year. Vanhala has sections that have been logged but the wilderness parts of the site support high biodiversity and the Joutsenaapa EU Nature 2000 site. It is at 134 hectares. Kumpurinne-Sieppi OGF forest and peatlands form a nationally relevant support to Ounas-Pallas national park in Muonio. Some parts of this 130 hectare forest complex have timber over 200 years old, never logged and fully intact peatlands of outstanding natural values.

We commemorate and celebrate the lifework of Karelian rune singer and knowledge keeper Jussi Huovinen with the Hyryvaara site in his village in Suomussalmi. This 15 hectare peatland and forest complex supports Murhisalo Eu Nature 2000 site and through th esite we remember the significant works and cultural heritage of Jussi, who passed away in 2017.