The role of indigenous peoples of the North andtheir associations in environmental protection in
the North and the Arctic

Vyacheslav Shadrin,
Chief, Council of Yukaghir Elders,Institute for Humanities Research andIndigenous Studies of the North,SB RAS,
Yakutsk, Russia

The Indigenous Peoples maintain their
spiritual connection to nature, which enables
them to support human life while preserving
the natural habitat

Being an integral part of nature, it is only fitting
for the small-numbered indigenous peoples of theNorth to play a special role in resolving its
pressing environmental issues.
The traditional resource use practices developedby them proved optimal for the territory, as did
their indigenous culture enabling theirintegration into their habitat.

The whole indigenous peoples’ history
shows that their traditional practices ofnatural resource use have helped ourcountry preserve the immense expanses of
the North relatively untouched.

«We are part of our landand our waters»

In the Russian Federation, the legislation on therights of small-numbered indigenous peoples
owes its development largely to environmental
issues. The second half of the 1980-s saw thegrowth of USSR’s environmental movement,
under whose auspices indigenous peoples started
uniting to protect their lands as the basis of theirsubsistence.

In 1989-1990, the movement took institutional
shape by forming the regional and the all-Union
associations of the peoples of the North.

From the onset, environmental rights had a
special place in the system of indigenous
peoples’ rights

Indigenous peoples’ environmental rights include: the righfavourable environment, the right to complete and veritab
information on the condition of the natural environment

the right of access to lands, territories and resources, and t
right to traditional use of natural resources, including reind
herding, fishing, hunting, and gathering.

With active participation of Northern indigenouspeoples’ organizations, the environmental rightsof the peoples of the North gradually became
enshrined in the regional law since 1990 and in
the federal law since 1992.

According to the legislation of the RussianFederation, the criteria for classifying them as
Indigenous peoples of the North are:- number less than 50,000 people;- live on the traditional territories;- preserve traditional livelihood;- independent ethnic self-identity.

North indigenous peoples of Russia

Indigenous 40peoples
aretheindigenous groups;
total populationis around 240,000
creators
and guardiansof people;
unique cultures and constitutean important part of modern
global civilization

34 regions of Russia where they live;
2/3 territory of Russia;

The right of access to resources and lands has a special
significance for indigenous peoples and their survival.

The term “territory of traditional natural resourceuse” (TTNRU) appeared in the Russian legislation,
enshrined in Federal Law on 2001,
On beginning TTNRUs were initially included in thedesignated conservation areas (DCAs).
Most of the territory of the Republic of Sakha(Yakutia) is preserved land – 37% of it is DCAs and53% TTNRUs.

Yakutia is home to 5 indigenous peoples of theNorth: the Evenki, Even, Dolgan, Yukaghir, andChukchi (totaling about 40 thousand people).

21 districts and 71 municipalities are considered as
areas of compact settlement of the indigenous
peoples of the North in the Republic of Sakha(Yakutia).

On the indigenous territories in Russia there are•> 80 % of water resources; > 90% of forests;•100 % of diamonds; > 90 % of oil, gas, gold,•coal and other mineral resources.

Among the factors undermining indigenous
peoples’ environmental rights are climate change,
the cutting of forests, fossil extraction, building ofoil or gas pipelines, seizure of traditional lands
andsacredplaces,development

agricultural programmes, etc.

projects,

At the initiative of Yakutian Association ofIndigenous Peoples of the North, the Republic of
Sakha (Yakutia) adopted a number of relevantlaws (“On Ethnological Expert Assessment”(2010), “On the Protection of Indigenous Habitats,Traditional Lifestyles, Livelihoods, and Trades of
the Indigenous Peoples of the North in theRepublic of Sakha (Yakutia)” (2011), and “On theResponsible Use of Subsoil Resources on theTerritory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)”(2018).

In the recent years,
come into focus

Inthe Arctic hasfor Russia.

2020 the law “On the Support of
Entrepreneurship in the Arctic Area of theRussian Federation” was adopt.

When the bill was presented in 2018, wewere seriously concerned, as initially it
only envisaged economic and financial
support to the industrial exploration of
the territories.

Meanwhile, in 2018-2020 we had a number of big
industrial disasters, including- the 2018 large-scale pollution of the Lena rivercaused by the washed-out dams of the ALROSA
diamond miners and- the 2020 disaster in Norilsk – one of the largest
petrochemical leaks in the Arctic ever (> 20thousand tonnes), threatening the Arctic oceanecosystems.
It was the IPN communities that raised the alarmand drew the attention of the public, media andgovernment to these catastrophes.

This forced the authorities to incorporate ourproposals to law:
- on reinforced environmental control,- damage compensation to IPN communities,- social responsibility of industrial companies.

The indigenous peoples remain at the frontline of theArctic environment protection.
Ensuring decent living for the indigenous peoples of
the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia andprotecting their environmental rights in line withinternational standards must be among the priorities
for federal- as well as regional- and local-levelauthorities.