January is here. We have a release of the much-anticipated Tahltan Database, winter seining is under way under prime ice conditions and rewilding work focuses on the Sub-Arctic Peatlands.

As a part of the Arctic Passion EU Horizon project the Indigenous Event Databases were released in June 2024 but two of them took a bit longer. Today the Tahltan Database has been released – a much anticipated source of knowledge of issues from the Stikine River basin and coastal Pacific area.

The database includes observations of climatic, ecological and cultural change from the Tahltan Nation. Tahltan researchers from Tu’dese’cho Wholistic Indigenous Leadership Development and the Snowchange Cooperative worked on a new database of Tahltan observations of climate, ecological and cultural change in the Canadian sub-Arctic for over three years.

Drawing on oral histories from Tahltan elders, as well as Tahltan science, self-documented videos and photos, the database is a vital effort to centre on-the-land, lived experiences of climatic change in efforts to tackle climate change in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.

Tahltan territory spans 93,728.26 square km, larger than Hungary, and has a border that runs for 1,644.9 km. It is a dynamic place with many unique land and water features, including 2,536 glaciers and 123 volcanoes. The Database has sections on Indigenous histories and colonial damages, observations of change, oral histories and videos and sections on revitalization of knowledge and training of younger generations to Tahltan culture and lands. The database can be accessed directly from here or through Arctic Seas portal as all databases.

In Finland winter seining is under way. It started 8th January. Ice conditions are at their prime and stocks look promising. The seining season is expected to last until mid-April. In the Landscape Rewilding Programme January brings new sites in Kemijärvi and Sodankylä totaling around 500 hectares of forests, rivers and Arctic Circle peatlands. We look forwards to an active restoration season.

Thanks to all partners, friends, allies, foes and alike for a massive year! We wish all the best for 2025 and a great holiday season. We are back in action in early January.

Please check out the story of the wild forest reindeer for holiday readings!

Snowchange

The Sámi forest of Alttokangas, 72 ha in size, is located in the municipality of Inari and is the first ICCA (Indigenous and Community Conserved Area) in the Sámi Home Area.  ICCAs are protected by Indigenous Peoples and/or local communities themselves and contain important biodiversity. ICCAs can be found across the world. Now a new StoryMaps summarizes the conservation and restoration efforts in this first-ever ICCA for the Sámi in Finland.

The Sámi forest of Alttokangas  was approved as an ICCA  in 2024. In 2023 Finnish NGO  Snowchange Cooperative  got funding from the The Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation for a project titled: Snowchange Arctic Rewilding: Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge Rewilding of Boreal Forests in Finland.

In consultation with the local Sámi Alttokangas was chosen as one of the project sites. To-date the participating Sámi and Snowchange researchers are finding their integrated approach to conserving and restoring Alttokangas to be a meaningful new method. 

In 2023 questions about the conservation status of Alttokangas emerged. What mechanism could both protect the forest and safeguard Sámi rights, land-use and their role in protecting the biodiversity of the area. The Sámi families involved want to protect Alttokangas forest in a way that includes the traditional Sámi knowledge, land-use, history and observations.

As part of the cooperation in Alttokangas ecological restoration activities have started in the forest. Here we discuss the two major activities so far – fencing off small plots of land to monitor vegetation recovery, and a prescribed burn.

In just two years the project has achieved the establishment of the first ICCA site in the Sámi Home Area, launched a comprehensive ecological inventory and monitoring practice, and kick-started the practical restoration of this important Sámi site.

We share messages from this work in a new StoryMap in Sámi, Finnish, Swedish and English to advance the understanding of Sámi-led conservation and restoration in the European North. 

Climate Breakthrough Award will make it possible to enable peatland restoration and protection on several sites from Finland to North American boreal. Climate Breakthrough Award program is uniquely designed for social change leaders to develop, launch, and scale their new initiatives with breakthrough potential to address climate change. Snowchange work will scale up in Arctic Circle area in Finland, Minnesota, Canada and Alaska on peatlands.

Over the next three years, the Climate Breakthrough program will provide a $4 million funding package to develop, launch, and scale boldest new initiatives with breakthrough potential to address climate change. All in all four teams and leaders have been chosen for 2024.

This means initiatives that could significantly reduce global annual greenhouse gas emissions, affect entire industries or regions of the world, and materially change the lives of tens of millions of people within ten years of launch.

“I’m honored to welcome Alex, Eriel, Kimiko, and Tero into the Climate Breakthrough Award program. They exemplify the kind of visionary leadership and thinking that lies at the heart of our mission. We’re honored to support them in bringing their most ambitious climate action ideas to life,” said Savanna Ferguson, Executive Director of Climate Breakthrough.

Climate Breakthrough Award associated with Snowchange Landscape Rewilding Programme will establish a pan-boreal network of Restoration Hubs on peatlands with the following territories to start with

• Boreal peatlands at the Arctic Circle in Finland, including stepping stones ecosystems in Kemijärvi, Sodankylä, Savukoski and especially in Ranua. Additionally we will investigate the role of cultural landscapes in a wind power investments in Ranua
• Northern Minnesota and the St. Louis River peatlands
• Hudson Bay ecoregion in Canada
• Central Alaska with pilot areas currently being discussed

Launched in 2016, the Climate Breakthrough Award program is uniquely designed for social change leaders to develop, launch, and scale their new initiatives with breakthrough potential to address climate change. Climate Breakthrough Awardees have collectively secured over $236 million in follow-on funding from more than 90 different funders to advance their work. Combined, their Climate Breakthrough initiatives have the potential to reduce global annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5.3 gigatons by 2030.

November and winter are soon here. Koitajoki restoration and other rewilding actions are drawing to a close with the large peatland of Lakkasuo completed, as well as over 1350 hectares in Koitajoki alone. Visits to Canada and US pave way for the 2025 international work.

In Koitajoki this season was a transition from the original three-year project into a five-year project mark. It also marked important structural terms of the availability and strategic location of restoration sites – both state economic lands and national park sites became part of the project actions.

If we assess the main context of the project the number of peatlands restored and wetlands reached appr. 1358 hectares point (as compared to appr. 900 hectares restored in years 1-2). This implies a safe and planned pathway towards the 2500 hectares mark at the end of 2027. Out of the peatlands restored in Summer 2024 the largest one was Lakkasuo, a southeastern strategic landscape influencing positively one of the ELSP Koitajoki landscapes that has not been under work before. So both in quantity and location Lakkasuo served an important step forwards. 

We saw the comeback of rare waders and other wildlife such as the black-tailed godwit on Rahesuo which was a great positive sign. The Festival of Northern Fishing Traditions shared the experiences and knowledge with an international group.

In international news a series of workshops and meetings with a range of First Nations in Canada as well as in the US wrapped up the year of strategic planning. With more information in December Snowchange was able to review where we might be headed with the North American work in mid-decade and where the priorities lie. We spoke to the CBC in Canada on the role of Indigenous memory, oral histories and monitoring – available here.