Reindeer Blog

Reindeer in Topolinoe, eating salt, during EALAT Information workshop

ЯКУТСК, 29 июля. В Республике Саха (Якутия) выясняются причины гибели 72 оленей в Горном улусе. Об этом РИА «Новости» сообщил представитель Минсельхоза республики.

Как рассказал собеседник агентства, падеж оленей произошел в Горном улусе, где размещены две оленеводческие фермы, принадлежащие Якутской сельхозакадемии и компании «Таба». По предварительным данным, произошла вспышка бабезиоза, по-другому — пироплазмоза. (English Summary Below)

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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 more »

Парламентская газета “Тюменские известия”. Осенью в ЯНАО пройдет заседание координационного совета ассоциации коренных малочисленных народов Севера «Ямал — потомкам!». Его главным вопросом станет разработка концепции развития этнического населения региона на ближайшие десять лет.

Предыдущая стратегия жизни тундровиков была рассчитана на такой же срок. Окружная Дума утвердила ее в 2000 году. Время прошло быстро. И не впустую, как утверждает президент ассоциации депутат Государственной Думы ЯНАО Александр Евай. Основные положения принятого десятилетнего жизненного плана для охотников, оленеводов и рыбаков в целом выполнены.

Новая концепция развития КМНС будет составлена с поправкой на новое положение дел в регионе и в стране. Вектор промышленного развития округа устремлен на полуостров Ямал, где «Газпром» начинает разработку ожерелья газоконденсатных месторождений. Ждут освоения и нефтеносные залежи близ поселка Новый Порт. (English Summary Below) Read more »

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 more »

(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.

Gold, copper and platinum fever continue to pass over Finnmark. Test cores in Kvalsund had chief geologist Kjell Nilsen enthusing

This is Norway’s largest copper find…We’re talking about billions. With today’s prices, we have found values of between eight and ten billion kroner (1.25 bn Euros)

Other materials in a 6 kilometre ridge include platinum, silver and gold. Nilsen told Finnnmark Dagblad said Nussir ASA intends to apply for permission to extract the minerals and if successful, production might start in year 2011, he adds. This is an area of reindeer husbandry and herders have already expressed their concerns about mining activity, as reported in the Reindeer Blog and in NRK, where herder Berit Kristine Hætta stated that reindeer need peace in this area after calving, a claim questioned by a Nussir spokesperson.

Meanwhile, in Karasjok, Store Norsk Gull are drilling 15 test holes (in their search for gold) in Ráitevárri and Rivkkaoggi (the heart of the winter pastures in this area) and reindeer herders are not happy about it, as reported in NRK yesterday.

In a letter to the Områdestyret for East Finnmark reindeer herders Lars Larsen Anti, Marit Kirsten Anti Gaup og Samuel John L. Anti wrote that the company has made no attempt to dialogue with them

This has not happened, and, therefore, we require full stop of the business until Store Norske Gold have met with us and clarified their activities in the area. We demand direct negotiations and clarification from the company.

The reindeer herders are considering engaging a lawyer if activities are not halted.

(Pic - Torill Kolbu) There was an interesting interview with south Sami reindeer herder Jon Anders Mortensson in Ostlendingen today. Mortensson herding area is the Elgå reindeer district in the mountainous region of southern Norway. In this region there are six herding families, in all about 35 people, herding around 3000 reindeer.

Mortensson stressed the importance of the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and that older herders don’t retire, rather play a critical role in educating the future generations.

We cannot survive with these big losses to predators, year after year. It makes me question more whether it is appropriate that my children become full time reindeer herders. Do they have a profession in the future, or will they get an education in another occupation? These questions and thoughts arise ever more frequently in my head

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While this story might seem more appropriate elsewhere, for the residents of Chukotka, the majority of whom are Chukchi (there are also Yupik, Yukaghir, Even and others) several thousand are engaged in reindeer husbandry, it it is important news. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a disaster for Chukchi reindeer husbandry, and the decline in herd size was more dramatic there than anywhere else in Russia (from nearly half a million to 100,000 reindeer). Abramovich’s tenure as Governor saw a enormous investment in the social and cultural capital of Chukotka as he poured millions of his personal fortune into the regions infrastructure and housing. He also prioritised reindeer husbandry and the livelhood has stabilised, been reinvigorated (See EALAT Information presentations from Chukotka) and seen substantial investment. He has not been without his critics, but noone doubts that citizens of Chukotka are better off now than they were when he started as Governor, 8 years ago. Read more »

Most office workers would not appreciate the ashes of somebody’s recently passed away family member or loved one being spread around their workspace. Sami reindeer herders in Sweden have decided to draw attention to the fact that it is becoming an increasingly common occurence in the mountains that they call their workplace, according to a recent story in UPI and The Local

UMEA, Sweden, July 5 (UPI) — Spreading the ashes of a lost loved one in northern Sweden’s mountains is “unpleasant” for area reindeer herders, they say.

Tomas Nejne, who spoke for a group of reindeer herders, said the funerary practice may be soothing to grieving relatives, but has “unpleasant’ after-effects on herding activities, The Local reported Saturday.

“This has become a working environment problem for us. We think that it is unpleasant to be in and walk over areas where people are buried,” Nejne said.

Current law allows scattering ashes in the mountains thanks to a county administrative board decision. But the herders are asking county court officials to make an immediate change.

The Local said if the herders’ efforts are ultimately unsuccessful, two more people’s cremated remains will be released in the regional mountains.

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.