Snowchange Cooperative

1st May marks the boreal spring to be in full swing – our fisheries are open, Pacific tour is concluded, new honorary member accepted and restoration of habitats proceeds.

Captain Karoliina and the crew have begun their harvests on lake Onkamo and Särkijärvi, and pike, bream and perch fill the fyke traps. Also the delicacy – i.e. vendace cans have started to make their impact in Helsinki high street and in Europe, with more to come towards autumn. Early spring enabled the start of the open water fishery historically early.

The Finnish restoration season has also kicked off, with peatland restoration work commencing in Koitajoki, and new boreal sites that have been added in Kemijärvi, Muonio and Pelkosenniemi. We look forwards to a busy season ahead especially in Eastern Finland and Lapland as well as Sámi forest restoration early in the year.

Pacific tour of 2026 has concluded. Teams visited Japan, Taiwan and Vanuatu with a large workshop over in Sun Moon Lake that gathered delegates from the Solomon Islands, Tasmania, and Maori as well as the Indigenous Taiwanese communities. We heard from across the ocean the results of last years restoration of wetlands, and plans for community-led mangrove and other initiatives. We met with the Thao people in solidarity and made plans also for the Festival of Fishing Traditions slated for Taiwan in 2027. Sutej Hugu, Indigenous philosopher and leader from Taiwan, summarized the gatherings and approaches in his keynote by saying:

“We would like to clarify with you about the fundamentals of Indigenous conservation and restoration in the perspective of Indigenous peoples’ self-strengthening process and self-determination for survival and revival. By the living traditions of Indigenous peoples, as human species we are embedded in inter-species habitats, and as human beings we are connected to all beings around us. The embeddedness and connectedness are the kernel and basis of our knowledge and institutions, and the deep origin of our strength and resilience.”

In other news, Snowchange has a new Honorary Member. Occasionally when an individual deserves the merit, Snowchange makes a decision to call a person to be an Honorary Member for Life in the Cooperative, i.e. they have shown extraordinary skills, devotion and dedication to the causes, ideological foundings and work of Snowchange Cooperative. It is the highest honor of the organisation. 

The new Honorary member is John Macdonald from Canada. Following an informative upbringing in Malawi, central Africa, John MacDonald spent most of his working life in the Canadian Arctic, including twenty-five productive years in Igloolik, as coordinator of Nunavut Science Institute’s Igloolik Research Centre.

Beginning in 1985, he collaborated closely with Igloolik’s Inuit elders and community leaders (including Leah Otak, Louis Tapardjuk, and George Qulaut) to establish and develop a major program designed to record and document the rich oral history and traditional knowledge of the Amitturmiut.

Among many publications flowing from this collaboration, is his foundational study of Inuit astronomy, cosmology, and environmental understanding (The Arctic Sky: Exploring the InuitUniverse (2022). He is also co-editor of The Hands’ Measure: Essays Honouring Leah Aksaajuq Otak’s Contribution to Arctic Science (2018). Since his retirement in 2009, he continues his research on Inuit oral history and primary historical contact between Inuit and Europeans in the Canadian eastern Arctic.

Today, 1st May, 2026, Chair Tero Mustonen has made an executive decision to call researcher John Macdonald to be a lifelong Honorary Member of the Cooperative. This honour also includes the rights to use and benefit of all of Snowchange services, assets and operative bases. Mustonen states:

“We have been working with John and the Inuit people of Igloolik since 2002. John, through his devotion, brilliance and dedication to the questions of Inuit oral histories, in particular the star lore and celestial issues, has contributed to Snowchange in outstanding ways over the past 20 years. For example our Finnish oral history archives have benefitted in major ways from the work John and the Elders have carried out over in Igloolik. We thank John for his lifelong devotion and commitment to Inuit and Arctic cultures and work. It is a great honor to invite John to be our next lifelong Honorary Member of the Cooperative.” 

Previously Eero Murtomäki and his wife Rita Lukkarinen, as well as cartographer Johanna Roto have been called to be lifelong Honorary Members of the Cooperative – the highest honour of the organization.

Check back in May, as we head to June and we ll have SNOW25 and other celebrations awaiting once the summer gets here.

In the quiet of late winter, tracks in the snow across Rahesuo and Valkeasuo peatlands reveal the hidden movements of wildlife. This field survey offers insight into how species survive the coldest months and how restoration in the Koitajoki Watershed is supporting boreal ecosystems.

Please see the news here.

We mourn the loss of two Indigenous knowledge holders from the Russian Arctic. Pyotr Kaurgin, a Chukchi reindeer herder and leader of the nomadic community of Turvaurgin in Siberia and Alexander Paul, Kola Sámi from Murmansk, have left us.

Pyotr Kaurgin comes from a long line and family of nomadic reindeer herders in the Lower Kolyma region of Sakha-Yakutia. He served as the co-lead for the nomadic community of Turvaurgin. As a respected Elder and knowledge holder he was leading efforts to establish solar electrification of the reindeer camps, establishment of nomadic education amongst the Chukchi of the region and reforms to the herding. Kaurgin is known world-wide for his vast contributions, detection and observation of climate change impacts to tundra, coastal and Siberian ecosystems. He was a key note speaker in several United Nations, Arctic Council and other international forums and believed in the large collaboration efforts Snowchange advanced when it was still possible. Kaurgin believed the changes under way in his tundra home can be navigated as long as people are on their land and live with her. 

Alexander Paul, a Kola Sámi knowledge holder, has also passed. Alexander worked in assessments of the region and its remote coast lines since the 2000s. He worked with several teams to assess the marine and ecosystem changes as seen by local residents and Sámi knowledge and contributed to several scientific and regional reports through his innovative, extensive and long field missions to remote, roadless communities. We remember Sasha with great fondness and offer condolences to the close ones.