ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the holistic understanding of the environmental and societal challenges that affect reindeer pastoralism in Fennoscandia today. Addressing these present-day challenges to reindeer pastoralism in Fennoscandia, this book consists of five parts. Each part is devoted to a particular component of the social-ecological system dynamics inherent in reindeer pastoralism. Affecting the state of pastures, being a social marker and being influenced by weather and predator abundance, governance of reindeer herd size is a complex task for herders and state authorities alike. Governing systems in setting an upper limit of reindeer numbers therefore need to consider whose knowledge is used, and whether and how much and in what phases herders can influence the process. As an important factor both for herd productivity and bioeconomics, providing reindeer with supplementary feeding in times of forage shortages is identified.
