Online:
Visits:
Stories:
Profile image
Story Views

Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

When reindeer have nowhere to run

Friday, March 17, 2017 8:49
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

For hundreds of years the Khanty people of Western Siberia have lived in harmony with nature. But as the oil industry seizes more and more of their land, their animals perish in oil spills and reindeer herders are losing their last pastures.

Oil company road construction on Sopochin family ancestral land, Western Siberia, Russia, 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Members of The Sopochin family, 3 Feb, 2017.

The Sopochin are a large family of Khanty people. Born and raised on ancestral lands in the forest tundra, they are among those who still preserve their Indigenous culture and way of life in the industry-dominated modern world.

Reindeer herder and his daughter, Sopochin family, Western Siberia, Russia 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Reindeer herder with his daughter, 3 Feb, 2017.

Their ancestral land stretches far across the horizon: 16 families of reindeer herders live on almost the same area that Russia’s capital city, Moscow, occupied in 2011 (before the addition of New Moscow in the south-west).

A large area of land is essential for the families survival in the tundra: with low temperatures and short growing seasons, farming is not sustainable, so Indigenous people breed deer, hunt, fish and gather berries.

The Sopochin family has more than 200 deer. A female deer usually gives birth to only one calf per year. Female deer always go to the same safe place for giving birth. But the oil industry is building the road in that place. Western Siberia, Russia 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Female deer usually return to the same place to give birth each year. But the oil industry is now building a road here. 3 Feb, 2017.

Deer feed on grass and yagel (lichens, which grow very slowly, only 3-5 mm per year), so they can’t graze in one place for long. That’s why reindeer herders need a large range.

But this delicate balance with nature is under threat. Everything the Sopochin value is now in danger. The subsidiary company of Gazprom Neft has announced plans to extract oil and gas on their ancestral lands.

Sopochin family members erect a tent in the path of a planned oil industry road. They want to protect the place that female deer come to give birth each year. Western Siberia, Russia 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Sopochin family members erect a tent in the path of the planned road. 3 Feb, 2017.

The area is in a watershed where oil pollution can affect water in streams and rivers from which many people and animals drink, far beyond these lands. Even before oil production begins, the company conducts exploratory work and builds its infrastructure. The reindeer pastures will be cut by roads.

The situation is getting worse as we speak. The Sopochin are already squeezed between two oil companies. This is the last land where they can still graze deer. But now, the subsidiary company of Gazprom Neft is building a road, without consulting reindeer herders, in the place where female reindeer come to calve in the spring.

Oil company road construction on Sopochin ancestral land, Western Siberia, Russia, 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Road construction is moving ahead without approval of the reindeer herders. 3 Feb, 2017.

Sadly, this situation is not an exception - on the contrary, it is typical. There is no official information on how many conflicts of interest occur between Indigenous people and oil companies in Russia, but the system operates in such way that conflicts are inevitable, with consequences for animals, people and an entire way of life.

We need to fix this. Indigenous people are working hard to protect their culture and avoid unnecessary conflicts, but the system is working against them. Regulations under which oil companies operate in Russia should at least be in line with international norms that respect Indigenous rights.

Reindeer herder and his children, Sopochin family, Western Siberia, Russia 3 Feb, 2017 © Alexey Andronov / Greenpeace Sopochin family members, Western Siberia, Russia. 3 Feb 2017.

A delegation from the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the rights of Indigenous Peoples visits Russia on March 17-21 and they can help change this situation. Share this story to let them know the truth.

Konstantin Fomin is a press officer with Greenpeace Russia.

Witness the lives of the Khanty firsthand, in this 360° VR video from the region.



Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/reindeer-nowhere-to-run-indigenous-Russia-UN/blog/58970/

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

Top Stories
Recent Stories

Register

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.