Frameworks for regulating local natural resource use in northern Sweden and northern Norway – A legislative review

Abstract

Northern Europe is often seen as having a specific relation to nature. In this manuscript, the policy and regulatory frameworks in Norway and Sweden are compared when it comes to the scope for local use that is provided by the regulatory frameworks relating to natural resources. The paper analyzes the legal framework for the use of nature and its resources, including hunting, fishing, and reindeer husbandry, with a focus on the Swedish natural resource legislation in relation to the (corresponding) Norwegian Finnmark Act. The study thereby compares the Finnmark Act and the protection it affords local resource users with that in northern Sweden under general Swedish and municipal regulatory systems. Local communities, resource use, regulatory frameworks, Finnmark Act