Bringing back ecological flows: migratory fish,hydropower and legal maladaptivity in the governance of Finnish rivers |
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| Authors: | Niko Soininen Antti Belinskij Anssi Vainikka Hannu Huuskonen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Law, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland;2. Department of Law, University of Gothenburg, Swedenniko.soininen@uef.fi;4. Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland;5. Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTHistorically, Finnish rivers supported vital populations of migratory salmonids. Presently, these species are more or less endangered due to extensive damming and hydropower production. In this article, we study the main legal and scientific drivers for re-evaluating some of the existing hydropower operations in Finland. We argue that there is a need for re-evaluation on the basis of legal obligations stemming largely from EU law and new scientific knowledge. Theoretically, our setting opens up a classical adaptive governance problem in how to address laws and past decisions that are based on outdated assumptions about the functioning of social-ecological systems. |
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| Keywords: | Water governance adaptive law migratory fish hydropower Finland |
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