A/HRC/33/42/Add.3 projects involving the Sami people with the objective of ensuring their agreement to proposed measures. In addition, the proposal sought to revise the criteria for approval for inclusion on the electoral roll of the Sami Parliament so as to better correspond to the Sami people’s own criteria for group membership.34 59. That proposal could have had the potential to address the recommendation the former Special Rapporteur made in 2011 to continue and enhance efforts to implement the right of the Sami people to self-determination and to more genuinely influence decisionmaking in areas of concern to them (see A/HRC/18/35/Add.2, para. 76). The proposal established a duty for State agencies to cooperate with the Sami Parliament and consult it with the objective of obtaining its consent in matters that would have an impact on the Sami homeland region, and in matters that would affect Sami languages and culture or the position or rights of the Sami as an indigenous people. However, after provoking a highly politicized debate, the proposal was removed from Parliament without a vote during the last week of the session in March 2015. 60. Unlike in Norway and Sweden, reindeer husbandry is not a right reserved for the Sami people but is open to any citizen of the European Union. Reindeer herding is regulated through the Reindeer Husbandry Act,35 and does not distinguish between Finnish reindeer herding practices and traditional Sami reindeer husbandry, which is a cause for ongoing concern for Sami reindeer herders who perceive the Act as eroding their opportunities to pursue reindeer husbandry in a manner that is culturally appropriate for the Sami. The Sami have been requesting the revision of the Act for many years. 3. Rights to lands, water and natural resources 61. In Finland, 90 per cent of the land within the area that is designated as Sami homeland is legally State land and is administered by the Finnish Forest and Park Enterprise. While there have been negotiations between the Government and the Sami Parliament to find common ground on the land rights issue, the legal status of the lands that the Sami people have traditionally used and occupied in Finland remains unresolved. The possibility for some outstanding land issues to be addressed during the recent reform of the Enterprise ended with the removal of the Sami rights from the proposed amendments to the Act regulating the Enterprise, as discussed below. 62. The adoption of a new Mining Act 36 in 2011 saw the introduction of a commitment to ensuring the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people in the context of extractive activities, and the inclusion of several provisions to that end. Importantly, the Mining Act establishes that in the Sami homeland region, all activities under the Act are to be adapted “so as to secure the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people”.37 63. More specifically, the Mining Act provides that in the case of exploration, gold panning or mining permit applications in the Sami homeland, the Skolt area and in designated reindeer herding areas, the permitting authority is obliged to assess the potential impacts of those activities on the Sami people’s rights to maintain and develop their own language and culture prior to approving any permits. 38 The requirement to assess impacts may also be relevant to applications for permits in areas outside the Sami homeland region if the proposed activities may be of significance to the rights of the Sami people. A permit will not be granted if it is deemed to undermine conditions for Sami or Skolt livelihoods 34 35 36 37 38 16 Government bill No. 167/2014. Reindeer Husbandry Act (No. 848/1990). Mining Act (No. 621/2011). Ibid., part I, chap. 1, sect 1. Ibid., part II, chap. 5, sect. 38.