(b) The two roads form "open wounds" in the forests with, on the immediate site, all the negative effects of logging; respect, but Finnish courts have been reluctant to accept standing of any others than the landowners; the authors cite several judgements in support of their contention. (c) The roads have changed the pattern of reindeer movements by dividing the wilderness, thereby making it far more difficult to keep the herd together; 7.2 Inasmuch as the alleged direct applicability of article 27 of the Covenant is concerned, the authors claim that while this possibility should not theoretically be excluded, there is no legal precedent for the direct application of article 27. The State party therefore wrongly presents a hypothetical possibility as a judicial interpretation. The authors reaffirm that no available and effective remedies exist in relation to road construction and other measures in the "residual area", which consists exclusively of state-owned lands. The Government's reference to the fact that the Covenant is incorporated into the domestic legal system cannot be deemed to prove that the domestic court practice includes even elementary forms of the approach now put forth by the State party, for the first time, to a United Nations human rights treaty body. (d) Any roads built into the wilderness bring tourists and other traffic, which disturb the animals; (e) As the Government has failed to provide reasonable justifications for the construction of the roads, their construction violates the authors' rights under article 27, as a mere preparatory stage for logging within their area. 7.6 Concerning the State party's assessment of logging operations in the areas designated by the communication, the authors observe that although the area in question is a small part of the Sami areas as a whole, logging within that area would re-start a process that lasted for centuries and brought about a gradual disintegration of the traditional Sami way of life. In this context, it is noted that the area in question remains one of the most productive wilderness areas used for reindeer herding in Finnish Lapland. 7.3 The authors challenge the State party's assessment of the impact of road construction into the area designated in their communication on the enjoyment of their rights under article 27. Firstly, they object to the State party's interpretation of the scope of the provision and argue that if the applicability of article 27 depended solely on whether the minority practices its "livelihood in the traditional manner", the relevance of the rights enshrined in the provision would be rendered nugatory to a large extent. It is submitted that many indigenous peoples in the world have, over time and owing to governmental policies, lost the possibility to enjoy their culture and carry out economic activities in accordance with their traditions. Far from diminishing the obligations of States parties under article 27, such trends should give more impetus to their observance. 7.7 Still in the context of planned logging operations, the authors submit the reports of two experts, according to which: (a) under certain conditions, reindeer are highly dependent on lichens growing on trees; (b) lichen growing on the ground are a primary winter forage for reindeer; (c) old forests are superior to young ones as herding areas; and (d) logging negatively affects nature-based methods of reindeer herding. 7.8 The authors insist that the area designated in their communication has remained untouched for centuries, and that it is only in the context of the coming into force of the Wilderness Act that the Central Forestry Board began its plans for logging in the area. They further contend that if it is true, as claimed by the State party, that highlands (above 300 metres) are in practice free of Board activity, then their herding area should remain untouched. However, the two roads built into their area partly run above the 300 metre mark, which shows that such areas are well within the reach of Board activities. In this context, they recall that all of the area delineated in their complaint is either above the 300 metre mark or very close to it; accordingly, they dismiss the State party's claim that only 1,400 hectares of the area are highlands. Furthermore, while the authors have no access to the internal plans for logging in the area drawn up by the Central Forestry Board, they submit that logging of 18 per cent of the total area would indeed affect a major part of its forests. 7.4 While Finnish Sami have not been able to maintain all traditional methods of reindeer herding, their practice still is a distinct Sami form of reindeer herding, carried out in community with other members of the group and under circumstances prescribed by the natural habitat. Snow scooters have not destroyed this form of nomadic reindeer herding. Unlike Sweden and Norway, Finland allows reindeer herding for others than Samis; thus, the southern parts of the country are used by herdsmen's committees, which now largely resort to fencing and to artificial feeding. 7.5 As to the impact of road construction into their herding area, the authors reiterate that it violates article 27 because: (a) Construction work already causes noise and traffic that has disturbed the reindeer; 9