Snowchange Cooperative
Snowchange was started in late 2000 to document climate and environmental change in the North and work with local and Indigenous communities of the Northern regions.
We are a non-profit independent co-operative.
Re-wilding Finland™ is a trademark owned by Snowchange with the purposes of advancing community-based and -controlled national efforts to fight impacts of climate change, enhance biodiversity and protect waterways.
Key Sites
In total Snowchange owns 5500 hectares of recovering lands and partners on land concessions on over 53,000 hectares of total areas. Our activities are expected to grow in the mid-2020s. In October 2021 the programme won the prestigious St. Andrews Prize for the Environment and in late 2021 several regional environmental awards, including ecological action of the year in Finland. In April 2023 these efforts were given the "Green Nobel", aka the Goldman Prize.
Njauddam River Collaborative Management
Njauddam river co-management with the indigenous Skolt Sámi includes ecological restoration of Vainosjoki river, securing three separate key forest lots, with a total of 350 hectares along the Sevettijärvi lake and Kirakkajärvi lake systems, development of co-management and co-governance tools
Linnunsuon kosteikko
Our flagship site is Linnunsuo, ‘marshmire of birds’, a 180-hectare restored wetland and peatland which is also a home to 200 species of birds
Kivisuo
Kivisuo ‘Marshmire of stones’ is our largest site, a 750 hectares aapa mire, which is a strictly protected biodiversity hotspot located in the villages of Muhos and Utajärvi
Rewilding Matters for the Whole of Europe
Rewilding and restoring large natural sites to serve as internationally relevant biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks helps to both store carbon (in the peatlands and forests) and actively trap carbon dioxide in the future when fully restored. The ecosystem benefits will service local communities and interconnected catchments. Restoration leads to the natural succession-based return of species, water tables, ecosystem characteristics and carbon trapping.
Relevance of Rewilding
Snowchange will continue to work on rewilding and restoring large natural sites to serve as internationally relevant biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks. This means they will both store carbon (in the peatlands and forests) and actively trap carbon dioxide in the future when fully restored. The ecosystem benefits will service local communities and interconnected catchments. Rewilding actions contain quick replicability potential across similar European sites.
Each Snowchange Rewilding site will be inventoried using scientific analysis, including GHG trace gas analyser data, vegetation surveys and limnological stocktaking. Traditional knowledge - an iconic sourcing of information of northern villages will be fully included to support cultural heritage and community-based monitoring.
Restoration leads to the natural succession-based return of species, water tables, ecosystem characteristics and carbon trapping. Soil-based emissions will stop in time. Renewed bird nesting areas will positively influence the European Fly-Way. Rewilded sites are slated to be Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCA) addressing the needs of reforms in northern nature conservation policy. Lessons learned and carbon stored emerges as a scientifically credible answer to the post-COVID and post-Paris Agreement world solutions especially in the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas that are relevant for all of planetary ecology.
