Nature Conservation, Collaboration and Claims : A Discourse Analysis of the Vålådalen-Sylarna-Helags National Park Process

Sammanfattning: As a policy field, nature conservation has a problematic history. Setting aside nature forprotection has often entailed the marginalization of Indigenous peoples, their claims, and their traditional lands. Some argue that a shift is occurring in Swedish nature protection policies, from top-down governing modes to collaborative forms. The thesis critically examines the national park process in Vålådalen-Sylarna-Helags, a project unique for nature conservation in Saepmie. No national park was established despite the process’ collaborative form and the inclusion of local actors, among those three reindeer herding communities. The thesis studies discursive constructions of the local Saemie actors’ inclusion and how that affects their possible influence. Moreover, it analyzes central constructions and considers their effects on the projectand change over time. The results show that inclusion is articulated differently by state actorsand reindeer herding communities, limiting and making possible varying forms of influence. The landscape and natural state are central constructions affecting the process, and the project’s aim transforms with significant consequences for the process and possibly its result.