At Risk: Russia's Indigenous Peoples Sound Alarm On Loss Of Arctic, Traditional Way Of Life, 28 November 2020

The indigenous peoples of Russia's Far North are sounding the alarm as climate change encroaches on their traditional lifestyle. But the message from the "guardians of the Arctic" isn't reaching Moscow, which sees gold and other economic benefits in the melting of the ice...

Herders and fishermen find themselves competing with large enterprises for untainted water and space for reindeer on the move. The arrival of construction workers has raised fears of the spread of the coronavirus. And industrial accidents have led to increased worries about large-scale efforts to extract minerals, elements, and offshore natural gas and oil reserves and ship them year-round along the Arctic coast...

"Russia's Arctic looks very huge, but more and more commercial projects are coming," said Rodion Sulyandziga, director of the independent Center For The Support Of Indigenous Peoples Of The North (CSIPN). Speaking by telephone from Moscow, he added the laying of new pipelines and efforts to mine coal, gold, and diamonds to the list of industrial encroachment on lands that indigenous peoples rely upon.

"Of course, we are not opposed to economic development," Sulyandziga stressed, saying that indigenous peoples themselves require resources to develop. But what is badly needed, he added, are "very strong relations between indigenous peoples and the private sector." ...