Friday, 18 November 2011 20:03
A roundup of some of the most discussed stories from the circumpolar world this week.
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| Photo: Jonas Ekströmer, Scanpix. Radio Sweden. |
SWEDEN
In Sweden, more developments in the ongoing wolf controversy. Nobody seems to agree just how many wolves the country should have. It's led to heated debates between animal rights activists and conservationists who say wolf numbers are too low and need to be protected from over-hunting, and hunters and farmers who disagree.
This week, the issue flared up again when Sweden's Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new policy that would allow people to shoot wolves in cases where there is "a strong possibility" that they would attack domestic animals. Many environmental groups are opposed to the new proposal.
To read the Radio Sweden report, click here.
UNITED STATES – ALASKA
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| Image courtesy of Alaska Dispatch. |
Oil and gas were big news in the state this week. BP and ConocoPhillips renewed calls for tax cuts on their Alaska operations.
Meanwhile, the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that Shell Oil's revised plan for exploration and drilling in Alaska's Arctic was accepted and can now go to public comment.
To read Shell's Chukchi Sea Exploration Plan, click here.
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| Reindeer couture. Image: Laura Juslin. YLE. |
In Finland, the fashion industry was in the spotlight with a story about how reindeer suede has become a popular high-fashion material. Reindeer herding has been an important part of the indigenous Sami culture for centuries. The boom in reindeer suede is now leading to talk of setting up a Sami training program on reindeer hide treatment in Northern Finland
CANADA
And in Canada, the tensions between resource development in the North and the rights of the aboriginal communities living there made headlines throughout the week.
In Canada's north-western Yukon territory, the Yukon Supreme Court issued a ruling on the dispute between Yukon's mining industry and the Ross River Dena Council, that wants to be consulted before mining claims are registered in their areas.
Next door in the Northwest Territories, an update on the Encore Renaissance Resources diamond project. The Yellowknives Dene have been resistant to the project until a solution can be worked out to protect their archaeological sites.
And today, the signing of a land deal in Labrador, Canada that guarantees income to the region's Innu people from an upcoming hydroelectric project.
RUSSIA
And in Russia, the country's regional ambitions in the Arctic were again under the microscope after a speech from president Medvedev last Friday promising to protect Russian Arctic interests and invest more money in the region.
You can read more about it here.
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca