The aim is to ensure that future plans for the national park do not harm indigenous people.
Metsähallitus Nature Services, together with the Sámi Parliament, has formed a working group to examine the plans for the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park in the coming years from the Sámi perspective.
The working group works according to the Akwé: Kon approach. The Akwé: Kon approach promotes the status of the Saami, i.e. indigenous people can participate in all stages of projects or plans that affect them or affect them. In this way, traditional knowledge, innovations and practices become part of the planning process. Adverse impacts of projects and plans on indigenous peoples are identified and taken into account in decision-making.
The Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is currently in the process of updating its management and use plan, which outlines, for example, where hiking trails will be built in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and where access will be restricted. The management and use plan is valid for 10-15 years.
A second thousand visions of the future have been collected
So far, views on the future of the national park have been collected at stakeholder meetings, at events open to everyone around the national park and with an online survey, which received a total of 1,100 responses.
The work of the working group lasts until the care and use plan is completed. The new management and use plan for Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park will be completed around 2024.
– It is important to know the Sámi history of the National Park. The unique area must be protected and preserved for future generations, Stoor-Lehtonen emphasizes in the press release.
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