Social licence for the utilization of wild berries in the context of local traditional rights and the interests of the berry industry

Everyman’s right, as applied in Finland and other Nordic countries, allows the picking of natural products (wild berries, mushrooms, etc.) regardless of land ownership. Harvesting and selling natural products has been an important source of income in rural areas of northern Finland. As household berry picking has more or less replaced small-scale commercial berry picking, foreign seasonal pickers are now supplying raw material for the berry industry. This has aroused vivid discussions about the limits of everyman’s right and inhabitants’ rights to local natural resources. Critics claim that commercially organized berry picking makes it difficult for inhabitants to fully use natural resources. In this article, we present the results of a survey aimed at natureoriented, mainly northern residents of Finland and a telephone and e-mail service to which residents of northern Finland sent feedback regarding foreign berry pickers. The results of the survey and the feedback show that, in general, organized berry picking by foreign labourers is accepted if some basic guidelines or rules are respected. These guidelines may stem from local customary laws or traditions which have regulated berry picking. Another factor which would improve local acceptance and promote social licence for organized berry picking by foreign and non–local labourers is the distribution of benefits. At present, the advantages of organized berry picking are seen as benefiting stakeholders outside the local community, whereas local communities have to bear the costs: for example, increased berry picking activity in areas which they have utilized for a prolonged time, sometimes through generations

Our Northern-Finnish wild berries

Finnish forests and swamps are bulging wild berries but only a fraction is picked each year. Finland is a remarkable source and exporter of wild berries and to meet the increasing commercial wild berry demand, foreign migrant wild berry pickers were introduced into Finland in mid-2000. The change has been challenging for the Kemijärvi native wild berry pickers and the phenomenon of migrant pickers has raised numerous social and ecological concerns among natives. The aim of this thesis was to conduct an ethnographic study to understand the wild berry picking culture from Kemijärvi natives’ perspective. This thesis examines natives wild berry pickers’ lifeworld and the reasons for creating and maintaining the interest towards wild berry picking. This research also aim to understand how native wild berry pickers see the declining interest towards wild berry picking and how they experience the phenomenon of migrant wild berry pickers. The research shows that the wild berries are closely related to natives’ lifecycle and the kinship formation affects to the creation of interest towards wild berry picking culture. The wild berry picking field has an impact on natives’ perception of the world and reality creating differences in the perception of social responsibility. The migrant pickers are perceived as diligent workers but in the confrontation on the swamps and forest, their position in the wild picking society are seen less worthy and picking areas are causing conflicts. The study concludes that the long tradition, inherited culture, and the natives’ position in the field enforce and strengthen the tendency to see wild berries and picking positively. The experiences of the participants in this study provide important pointers to some of the driving forces behind their perceptions and opinions

Public reactions to utilization of everyman's rights in wild berry business

We investigated attitudes concerning recruiting of foreign wild berry pickers in Finland. The survey was directed for nature-orientated people, as 92 % of respondents (n=495) picked wild berries for household use (80 %) or incomes (12 %)

‘A STRONG MIND AND A SOLID PHYSIQUE’: Symbolic Constructions of Migrant Workers in Sweden’s Green Industries

This article analyses how employer federations, trade unions and the Swedish state symbolically construct seasonal migrant workers to work in the green industries, specifically in agriculture, forestry and wild-berry picking. Work tasks and skills become ethnicised where certain groups are constructed as ‘fit’ for certain work tasks. Through symbolic constructing, boundaries are drawn in relation to Swedish workers in general but also hierarchically within the group of seasonal migrant workers and in relation to specific groups in Sweden, typically un-employed youth and newly settled refugees. This paper is based on interviews with unions and employer organisations as well as secondary text-sources and legal texts. The analysis shows that while employers construct seasonal migrant workers as vital for agriculture, forestry and wild-berry picking, arguing that their line of business could not be sustained without them, the union side portrays this as an ‘artificial demand’. Within a system that to a large degree is based on employers’ demand for inexpensive and flexible labour, symbolic boundaries of seasonal migrant workers are not only performed by the employers’ side, but are also co-constructed with and sanctioned by the state; while partly contested by the unions

About Wild Flowers

Exact date of bulletin unknown.PDF pages: 2

Wild Flowers

PDF pages: 2

Effects of picking methods on the berry production of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea) and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum) in Northern Finland

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