Reindeer Blog

In an unusual arrangement, widely reported in the Russian media, Norilskgazprom asked Taymr reindeer herders to protect their gas pipelines from theft - apparently a common occurrence in remote regions. As a reward for capturing thieves, herders would receive a reward of 400 litres of diesel fuel. Norilskgazprom highlight their assistance and support of local reindeer herders on their own website and state their reasons for the venture stem from a concern for the environment. Meanwhile on the Yamal Peninsula, discussions were under way at the Tavoskom city council whether to subsidise reindeer herders for lost animals due to the poor weather conditions this spring - some estimates say as many as 15,000 animals died as a result of the fluctuating weather conditions. The number of reindeer in the Yamal Nenets autonomous district, as of January 1 this year, is estimated to be 630,000 with about 30% of which are in public ownership. The remaining 450,000 are in the private sector according to newspaper reports. The situation in Magadan is quite different in terms of numbers - from 133,000 reindeer in 1980, numbers have fallen dramatically - in 2000 there were approximately 17,000 - the need for stabilisation has been recognised by the regional administration which has initiated a programme to increase numbers and assistance up to 2010.

A Dukha Reindeer herder family in Mongolia receives a delivery of vitamins brought by Sas Carey of Middlebury in a trip last year. Carey is returning to Mongolia this summer to complete a health database for the 207 herders developing a project she calls Nomadicare: advocating for Mongolian traditional medicine, providing Western laboratory supplies and honing a method to bring the two together. “I really believe that integrating Eastern and Western (medicine) is the key to health for the world,” she said. “Even the World Health Organization and other groups are beginning to get it too; they’re talking about harmonizing.” Read the full story here. Visit the Nomadicare website 

In Iqaluit, Nunavut, a national scientific advisory board Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has recommended that the federal government place the Peary caribou on the endangered species list.

photo courtesy of John Nagy/GNWT

This recommendation was disputed local hunters and trappers, even though the numbers do speak of of a steady decline over time.

“The Peary Caribou is not endangered,” said Larry Audlaluk, a director with the Iviq Hunters and Trappers Association in Grise Fiord. “The cycle of Peary caribou in the high Arctic is not like your regular caribou in other parts of the north.” “The Peary caribou has never been big in population,” Audlaluk said. “What really hurts me is when traditional knowledge is not taken seriously” Read the rest of the story..

COSEWIC says that it will include more traditional aboriginal knowledge in its work, addressing these very concerns from aboriginal people that their voices aren’t heard by scientists.

A delegation from the Norwegian office of the oil major “Conoco Phillips” recently visited the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), to discuss further cooperation on environmental issues - “Conoco Phillips” currently funds two environmental projects in NAO: a Nenets environmental database and project looking at the effects of the Oil spill at the Pechora River, 12 years on. In another sign of the increasing development of northern energy infrastructure, Statnett, (the Norwegian electricity transmission system operator) has announced that it is to construct a new 420 kV powerline between Balsfjord and Hammerfest. With a distance of ca. 330 - 360 km, completion is scheduled for 2014 and will cross significant areas of reindeer husbandry.

Norwegian state authorities are threatening to pull down Sámi reindeer installations by the Altevatn Lake in County Troms if reindeer belonging to Sámi Village Saarivuoma are not relocated by today as the border dispute within reindeer husbandry, Norway and Sweden intensifies. Not everyone has gold fever in Karasjok: Maret Sara, a municipality representative from the Reindeer Herders List (a local branch of NBR) claimed that the Mayor of Karasjok is overlooking reindeer husbandry and lying to the central authorities in his hunt for gold. Elsewhere, animal welfare activists are targeting the transportation of reindeer over long distances to slaughter houses as an issue of concern. Ellen Inga O. Hætta of the Reindeer Husbandry Administration pointed out that the best way to transport reindeer is by their own four legs.

A new megaproject is on the horizon and one that is certain to effect reindeer husbandry, involving a 467 km pipeline from the Kharyaga field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug to the village of Indiga on the coast of the Barents Sea. The impact of oil and gas on indigenous peoples in Northwest Russia is the topic of an IPY project, ‘Monitoring of development of traditional indigenous land use areas in the Nenets Autonomus Okrug, NW Russia’ (npolar.no/ipy-nenets), highlighted recently in forskning.no The impact of development is not only an issue in Russia - six new power stations planned for Brønnøy in Nordland will ’strangle reindeer husbandry’ according to a reindeer herder from the district. At the political level, Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian made an interesting speech to the StatoilHydro’s Leadership Forum in Stavanger yesterday regarding the future of the newly merged company and critical issues of energy security and Norway’s ambitions of being both a leading petroleum producer and a leading player in efforts to limit climate change.

ICR have added a new photo gallery to the Reindeer Portal that graphically illustrates the people and landscapes that reindeer interact with..

The leaders of NBR-NRL at their AGM recently urged for an assessment of nuclear power as a power source, pointing out that all forms of power development impact reindeer husbandry, including wind power, which is generally thought of as being more environmentally benign and there are plans for extensive development of wind power on the Finnmark coast - on the agenda was a presentation by Ellenor Guttorm Utsi entitled ‘Wind Power-Reindeer Husbandry’s battle with Goliath’ . Traffic - another byproduct of development is taking a severe toll on reindeer as road kill has increased enormously in Finnmark. Sámi Council Vice President Olav Mathis Eira called for the Sámi Parliament in Norway to be allowed adminster reindeer husbandry, instead of the current administration in Alta. This was responded to negatively by the State Secretary for Agriculture, Ola T. Heggem who said it was natural for the state to administer reindeer husbandry. Karasjok municipal leaders have ‘Gold Fever‘, as a major Norwegian mining company is promising ‘hundreds of jobs’ in the municipality as they plan to develop gold mining in the region. ICR employee, Elna Sara was quoted in an AFP report on how climate change is threatening indigenous peoples. Meanwhile, Reindeer meat has to be ‘treated like gold‘ as it is becoming increasingly popular and harder to get - the slaughter house in Kautokeino was empty by Easter and demand is rising. Finally, the annual NBR NRL meeting in Mehamn was the site of the competition to find reindeer husbandry’s best lasso caster! The best woman was Inga Berit Marie Triumf and the best man was Olav Mathis Eira from over 70 participants. The best woman won a 1.5 year old female reindeer (vuonjal) and an unmarked 6 month old reindeer calf (čearpmat)!

NRK, the Norwegian state broadcasting company, spent a year travelling with and filming the Eira family, reindeer herders from the Kautokeino region, who discuss how the climate has changed. The film is soon to be released, but NRK have just released a trailer for World Environment Day, and the cinematography is fantastic… There is also a photo gallery here.

Researchers in Finland are concerned about the increasing incidence and northward march of the deer ked which has spread further north with each successive year, and its present habitat extends to the southern edges of Finland’s reindeer husbandry area, according to media reports in Finland. What impact this might have on reindeer husbandry is not yet known.