Posted by Philip Burgess on July 30th, 2008
Is Oil and Gas Development Good for Reindeer Husbandry?
The story from Tyumenskaya News posted in the Reindeer Blog yesterday reflects an earlier “oil and gas and reindeer and good news” story that appeared in Rosbalt Nord a few weeks ago entitled Ямальские газовики подарят оленям комфорт / Yamal gas industry gives comfort to reindeer. The article quoted Sergei Khudi (who attended the EALAT workshop in Yar Sale and the ENSINOR workshop in Rovaniemi). Khudi works for Yamaltranstroy as an advisor on environment and indigenous issues.
According to Khudi pipeline passages for reindeer are being built on the traditional nomadic routes of reindeer herds and these are arranged with the brigadiers of the reindeer herding households. To date, 15 such passages that are 100 metres in width have been built. Khudi also said that reindeer are even allowed migrate on roads and fishing areas in the area of Bovanenkovo. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Philip Burgess on July 28th, 2008
- The East Siberian Pipeline Route - Passes through Aldan
ИА SakhaNews. В Якутии селу Хатыстыр Беллетского (Google карты) наслега Алданского района присвоен статус «эвенкийский национальный».Вчера на четвертом пленарном заседании Ил Тумэн якутские парламентарии приняли решение о наделении Беллетского наслега (сельского округа) Алданского улуса статусом «эвенкийский национальный». Данный статус позволит наслегу реализовать права представителей коренных малочисленных народов, оговоренные в соответствующих статьях Конституции РФ, а также будет способствовать исполнению Декларации прав коренных народов мира, принятой ООН в прошлом году, и федерального законодательства в отношении коренных малочисленных народов Севера. (English Summary Below) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Philip Burgess on July 25th, 2008
(Pic - Moscow Times, Kopin sworn in, as Abramovich watches) Yesterday, the new Governor of Chukotka (Roman Kopin) was sworn in and not long afterwards, the former Governor Roman Abramovich - whose personal riches completely transformed the province’s fortunes - announced that he would be running for the post of speaker in the Chukotka Duma.
This is a surprising move, as it seemed that he had grown tired of governing Chukotka (he spends only a handful of days a year there), but he may have been moved to action by the pleas of the former speaker Vasily Nazarenko who offered to step down if Abramovich promised to return.
New Governor Kopin is part of the young team that Abramovich created to transform the region - and he has been head of the Chaunsky and Bilibino regions, has a good knowledge of the issues facing reindeer husbandry and other traditional livelihoods in the region. Quoted in a Times article from 2003, Kopin said,
To love this place you have to be a particular kind of person or to have been born here.
Posted by Philip Burgess on July 7th, 2008
Smoke from intense fires in southeastern Russia poured over the Sea of Okhotsk on June 30, 2008. This natural-color image of the fires (marked in red) is made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites on June 30. The fires are affecting Amur, Khabarovsk, and southern Sakha Provinces in Russia’s Far East.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
Fire data is now avaialble on the web, continuously updated, in a beta web tool developed in the University of Maryland, in cooperation with NASA.
During the EALAT Information workshops in Sakha and Chukotka, loss of reindeer pastures as a result of fires was highlighted by reindeer herders as a threat to reindeer husbandry. During Soviet times, considerable resources were expended on fire control and fighting from the air. With the economic crisis of the 1990’s, these efforts were halted and have yet to be resumed. The New Scientist recently carried an article that suggests that tundra fires will increase in size and intensity with climate change.
Posted by Philip Burgess on July 3rd, 2008
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).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Philip Burgess on July 1st, 2008
(Pic - Svein Mathiesen, NAO) У оленеводов свои проблемы, решение которых, к сожалению, может затянуться на неопределенный срок, в связи с передачей полномочий от НАО к АО и реорганизацией управлений по делам малочисленных народов и сельского хозяйства окружной Администрации.
О том, что жизнь людей, ведущих традиционный для НАО образ жизни (оленеводов, охотников и рыбаков), во многом отличается от жизни строителя, геолога, учителя или врача, никто спорить не будет. Тут свои «кричащие» особенности: тундровое становище, продуваемое всеми ветрами, без каких-либо привычных для деревни (не говоря уж о городе) удобств, круглосуточное дежурство по охране тысячного стада в любую погоду, днем и ночью, однообразная пища, оторванность от семьи и, как в космосе, одни и те же лица соседей по чуму в течение нескольких месяцев. И это только малая часть обыденных проблем, с которыми приходится сталкиваться тундровикам. English summary below
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Posted by Philip Burgess on June 30th, 2008
(Source - The Kremlin) Many Finno Ugric Peoples are reindeer herders - Sami, Komi, Khanty, Finns, Nenets, to name a few. While reindeer were not on the agenda at last weeks Finno Ugric Peoples congress in Khanty Mansisk last week, reindeer were not too far away..as seen in this picture with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Finnish President Tarja Halonen. Medvedev promised to visit to Finland in the near future - perhaps Reindeer will feature then?
Posted by Philip Burgess on April 28th, 2008
(Picture / story Russia Today 21042008)Reindeer breeding accounts for 90% of the agriculture in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in northern Russia. The industry’s export markets include Germany, Italy, Greece and Latvia. But producers are facing logistics problems trying to expand.Reindeer have been the main source of income for the Nenets people for centuries. There are 600,000 head of the animals in the region.
But Russia has yet to develop the domestic market for reindeer meat. Today, all the produce is exported.
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Posted by Philip Burgess on April 24th, 2008
(ROSBALT NORD) САЛЕХАРД, 21 апреля. Освоение Бованенковского месторождения (Ямало-Ненецкий автономный округ) согласовано с коренным населением, сообщает ИА «Север-Пресс».
«Вторжение промышленности в зону хозяйствования коренного населения происходит крайне осторожно и цивилизованно, — заявил заместитель генерального директора компании «Газпром добыча Надым» Игорь Морозов. — Все решения по строительству инфраструктуры и трубопроводов в районе Бованенково принимаются только после детального обсуждения с коренным населением и прохождения соответствующих согласований и экспертиз в местных администрациях».
(Operator Gazprom has got the necessary consent from regional indigenous peoples for the development of the huge Bovanenkovskoe field in the Yamal Peninsula. English summary below) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Philip Burgess on April 22nd, 2008
According to a report in the Barents Observer and Rosbalt Nord, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug proposes to build a new port terminal in Indiga for exports of oil shipments. This is a region of reindeer husbandry for Nenets and Komi herders and it should be remembered that the establishment of an oil terminal in Varandei led to the relocation of an old Nenets village and created difficulties for reindeer herders in the region. Read the rest of this entry »
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