Reindeer Blog

So said Toomas Ilves, the President of Estonia, as he marched his delegation out of last weeks Finno Ugric Congress in Khanty Mansisk. Ilves even called for the European Union to become engaged in protecting Finno Ugric languages. These remarks were designed to irritate Russia, no doubt, as more than 2 million Finno Ugrian people live in Russia (and many are reindeer herders) Nenets, Sami, Khanty, Mansy, and Komi. However, and this point was made in the Moscow Times in yesterdays editorial, many of Russia’s indigenous peoples are not benefiting from the recent rise in Russia’s wealth and this is all the more evident in areas that are rich in oil and gas such as Khanty Mansisk, Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Nenets Automous Okrug).

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OAO Gazprom, dominates the Russian gas and hydrocarbon sector, accounting for over 60% of Russian reserves and almost 85% of Russian production. Gazprom owns the Russian gas pipeline system, a key part of any country’s gas industry, and also has a legal monopoly on gas exports. A big question for oil and gas production in areas of reindeer husbandry is when the financing is in place to put these hard to get at resources onstream. One key plank in the plans for the Yamal Peninsula, the largest area of reindeer husbandry in the world is the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta Gas Pipeline which is expected to be launched in 2011.

With increasing focus on the resources of Yamal, there is more interest in the regions indigenous people, the most numerous of which are Nenets. It is likely that there will be an explosion of visitors to the region and this will doubtless add to the challenges that Nenets will be facing in the future. It may also be an opportunity. Here is the account of an English ‘explorer’ whose time with Nenets is now showing on the BBC.

In an article in the LA Times, the diversity of the world’s languages was highlighted, and this diversity is a key element in the transmission of traditional knowledge. As this linguistic diversity is threatened , so is the richness of the worlds collective heritage and and as a result, key tools for adaptation are lost.

The difficulties of counting nomadic peoples was outlined as statistics can only be gathered when reindeer herding Nenets visit settlements twice a year according to a report yesterday in Russia Today.

(pic - BarentsObserver) As Reported in the BarentsObserver, according to Artur Chilingarov, deputy speaker in the State Duma and polar explorer, the revival of Northern Sea Route is a prerequisite for the ‘conquering of the Arctic’, as reported in RosbaltNord. In the air, Russia as been flxing its muscles as well, with exercises near the Norwegian border last week and President Putin’s ordering the resumption of long-range strategic nuclear bomber flights for the first time in 15 years over US territory. Meanwhile, gas started flowing yesterday from the Statoil Snøhvit plant in Hammerfest according to their website.

The saga of the recent Arctic ‘gold rush’ has been receiving a lot of attention from the world’s media, with at least one commentator thinking that Russia may actually have harmed its own interests by its expedition. The Nordic Council of Ministers reiterated that the the Nordic countries had a particular responsibility for the state of the environment in the Arctic. The Arctic is of course a homeland for many indigenous peoples, many of whom are in Russia, a fact highlighted by Russia Today in their recent overview, who also featured a story on the Mansi.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) urged continued support for the participation of indigenous people in the work of the IGC (Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore), though the slow pace of work by this committee has been criticised by some. Still, the committee will continue its work and slightly expand its mandate. Meanwhile, government officials in New Zealand are considering the establishment of a traditional knowledge ‘registry’ to offset the risks of biopiracy.

Traditional knowledge might have an answer as to why a wild reindeer decided to live with goats in Southern Norway. Is it possible it was escaping cabin construction? A continued boom in cabin development is threatening the pastures of Norway’s small remaining wild reindeer herds - 4,900 holiday cabins, most involving road systems and associated infrastructure as well, were built between 2001 and 2005 near the conservation areas set aside for wild 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.

Издания на английском и русском языке Бюллетеня ANSIPRA № 16 сейчас опубликованы на нашем веб-сайте. Печатные копии изданий на русском языке распространяются среди всех зарегистрированных участников сети в России.

The English and Russian language editions of ANSIPRA (Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic) Bulletin No.16 can now be downloaded from our website. Printed copies of the Russian language edition are distributed to all registered network contacts in the Russian Federation.

The current issue of Nature magazine reports that the main funding agency for
health research in Canada (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) has adopted ethical guidelines for studies involving aboriginal people in Canada. “Consent for projects must be obtained from the community involved, as well as from individuals, biological samples should be considered on loan to the researcher, and the community should have the opportunity to review the conclusions drawn from the data…Although the recommendations are not legally binding, health researchers and institutions funded by the CIHR will be required to follow them.”, writes Nature journalist Helen Hoag.