Reindeer herding despite climate fears

In the snowy Arctic darkness Suvi Kustula throws bundles of lichen to her excitable herd of reindeer, their antlers lit up by her van's headlights.

"I was just a few months old when I fed my first reindeer," the 24-year-old laughed, saying she "pretty much always knew" she would follow her father and grandfather into herding.

"I managed one and a half weeks living in a city before I switched to reindeer herding college," Kustula said. 

"It's a way of life. Reindeer before everything."

Twenty years ago the ancient tradition of herding reindeer for meat and fur appeared to be in decline in Lapland, the vast area of forest and tundra which spans northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia's Kola Peninsula.

Young people felt they had to move south "to make a good life", said Anne Ollila, head of Finland's Reindeer Herders' Association. 

But nowadays nearly a quarter of Finland's 4,000 herders are under 25, as more young people choose to stay or return home to Lapland. 

The number of women entering the traditionally male-dominated profession is also at its highest ever.

"People have learned to better appreciate freedom and nature and tradition," Ollila said. "Even if you can't make big money."

Instead herders get to live an outdoor life, dictated by the seasons and the weather in the often stunningly beautiful Arctic wilderness. 

But the new generation faces an array of emerging challenges, including a warming climate and pressure from industries keen to exploit Lapland's resource-rich landscape.

A herder needs intimate knowledge of the landscape and how their animals behave to keep tabs on their reindeer, which roam freely across the plains and forests.

And asking how many animals a herder has is a big no-no.

"It's a bit like if I asked you how much you have in your bank account," Kustula laughed.

Most young herders are either born in or have married into a reindeer herding family, Ollila said.

Many belong to the indigenous Sami community, who have herded reindeer across northern Lapland for centuries. 

Oppressed for years by Nordic governments, many Sami have in recent decades begun reclaiming their traditional culture and language.

"Some earlier generations were ashamed of being Sami," Ollila says. "But I think the young people choosing reindeer herding are very proud of it."