Pipelines, development and reindeer
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.
