Research can hopefully contribute to an improved understanding of the role of conflicts and conflict management to the sustainable use of natural resources, and provide knowledge of the opportunities and scope for action and recommendations on conflicts management methods that can be used by different sectors, environmental authorities, and stakeholders to manage conflicts successfully. Conflicts are a recurrent theme of this publication; the dispute between the Finnish state and environmental protective Sami over nature conservations policies, the essence of consultations in conflicts regarding natural resource management involving reindeer herders and forestry in northern Sweden, the psychosocial conditions of reindeer herders in southern Swedish Sápmi where conflicts are a main cause of the stressful situation, and the problematic balance between modern economy and traditional sustenance in the western Kola Peninsula are issues addressed by the authors. Dating reindeer herding settlements, initiatives to introduce reindeer herding in Canada, the ratification of the ILO Convention No. 169, storytelling, Sami films, historical elderly mortality, indigenous polio research and the ageing population are other topics that are represented. Rivers to Cross – Sami Land Use and the Human Dimension includes twelve representations of current research devoted to the Sami society. It is our sincere anticipation that they will contribute to an improved understanding, and inspire further research.

Boken som utges med stöd av Göran Gustafssons stiftelse för natur och miljö i Lappland.