The timber that Metsähallitus is not delivering to anyone at the moment is laying piled in the forest. Some of the locals went to visit the piles in December, to see that they haven't been touched. They took some photos that became a gallery in our Finnish language weblog. Everyone knows that the timber has been sold to someone, because it seems senseless for an enterprise to log for fun. The timber needs to be delivered before spring, before the forest roads become too soft for big machines to drive.

The Finnish government and different forestry interest groups have continued to belittle the dispute in Upper Lapland, claiming that all the problems should be solved locally. However, after years and years of arguing it should be clear to all the parts - including the prime minister who visited Inari in December - that there is no chance anything can be solved locally, unless Metsähallitus starts to treat reindeer herders as an equal partner in negotiations. Again in December some new loggings were started without notifying the reindeer herders of the area.

Photographer: Eini Kosonen