There were those who fought against the windmills and lost and those who challenged the wind turbines and won, for the sake of the reindeer. This is the story of the battle of the Sami shepherds, an indigenous population of about 80-100 thousand people living in parts of Finland, Sweden, Lapland and Norway.
And it is in the latter country that the Sami have sued against the construction of two wind farms in the west of the country, on the Fosen peninsula, supporting the illegal invasion of their pastures where they are famous reindeer herders: the sight and the noise of the gigantic wind turbines frighten their animals that graze nearby and therefore jeopardize the traditions of “secular culture”.
After a first defeat in 2013, when their appeal was dismissed, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that the rights of reindeer herders were violated: the judges said that according to UN law, ethnic minorities should not be denied. the right to “cultivate one’s own culture”, such as reindeer husbandry traditionally practiced by the Sami.
However, the Norwegian Supreme Court has not specified what should happen to the 151 wind turbines or to the tens of kilometers of roads built to facilitate their construction: for this reason the wind farms remain in operation for the moment.
Norway, the largest oil and gas producer in Western Europe, aims to increase its production of renewable energy, such as wind energy, in preparation for a transition to a greener economy: the Roan wind farms and Storheia in the western part of the country are part of the largest onshore wind energy project in Europe and were first inaugurated in 2010 and their construction was finished last year.
Also for this reason, the Minister of Oil and Energy, Marte Mjoes Persen, has planned a trip to the Fosen area to meet the shepherds and does not rule out any results, including the dismantling of the turbines.
Follow LaZampa.it on Facebook (click here), Twitter (click here) and Instagram (click here)