Photo: E.I. Turi/ EALÁT, 2007
Real Impacts for Arctic Indigenous Peoples: Illusions of Adaptation or Resilience? Our Common Future Under Climate Change, Paris, July 8, 2015
Anders Oskal Executive Director ICR
Co-Author of IPCC AR5 WG II Polar Regions Chapter
Pic: E.I Turi, IPY EALÁT, 2008
!
Photo: J.M. Gaup, 2009
Even, Sakha Rep.
L. Monami, 2006
Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets
Ø, Ravna, 2006
Chukchi, Chukotka
A. Oskal, 2008
Dukha, Mongolia
S.D Mathiesen, 2003
World Reindeer Husbandry A Circumpolar Livelihood for Indigenous Peoples
E.I Turi, EALÁT, 2008
Pic: E.I Turi ICR/ EALÁT, 2007
Pic: L.Monami Pic: E. Agruboeva
Pic: S.D Mathiesen, ICR/ EALÁT, 2008
Reindeer Herding is an Arctic, Indigenous, Nomadic Way of Life
Pic: B. Alexander
A human-coupled ecosystem
A model for management . .
A Time of Historical Change
for World Reindeer Herders
IPCC AR5 WG II - Polar Regions Chapter:
“…Complex inter-linkages between societal,
economic, and political factors and climatic
stresses represent unprecedented
challenges for northern communities”
Oil and gas
Shipping
Main fisheries
Tourism
Governance
Key Drivers in a Changing Arctic
Partially based on graphics
used with kind permission of
Arctic Council AMAP
Climate change
Mining
Globalisation… …on top of every other challenge
L. Monami, 2006 E.I Turi, 2008
Trym I. Bergsmo, IPY, 2006 E. Agruboeva, 2008
A. Kutskiy, 2008
”…We parliamentarians strongly believe
the impact of climate change to be a
matter of urgency. The climate change
already has a strong impact on the living
conditions of the Arctic indigenous
peoples. And if the ice disappears for
large parts of the year, we will see an
explosion in human activities in the
Arctic. We need to find ways to regulate
this activity and keep ahead of the
development.”
Hill Marta Solberg, Chair of the Arctic
Parliamentarians, Arctic Council
Ministerial Meeting, Yamal October 2006
The relation between climate change and changed use of the Arctic
750 ppm ~ 4.3 0C 550 ppm ~ 3 0C 450 ppm ~ 2 0C
“We will be exploring a world where humankind has never been”
This is an incredible challenge we all face as a
civilization - A “sweet spot” for civilisation? Climate Change is an Incredible Challenge we all Face as a Civilization
ACIA,
2005
Ex: Snow Change, Extreme Weather Events, Access to Pastures
Dr Inger Marie G Eira, 2012:
Silent language of snow: Two ways of knowing
Reindeer herding and climate change
Reindeer herders’ vulnerability network study.
IPY EALÁT-Network Study RESEARCH, OUTREACH, MONITORING and INFORMATION
Project leaders prof. Ole Henrik Magga,
prof. Svein D Mathiesen and director Anders Oskal
Reindeer herding in Topolinoe, Eastern-Siberia, April 2008
Picture by Ms Kari Utsi, ICR/ EALÁT
Adaptation only takes place on the local level!
Examples of local reindeer herders’ adaptation strategies based on traditional knowledge
Herd design, castration
Tree lichen in
Taiga areas
Human selection
of animals/
breeding
Insect control Landscape utilisation
Traditional
food culture
“…We have some knowledge about
how to live in a changing
environment. The term ‘stability’ is a
foreign word in our language. Our
search for adaptation strategies is
therefore not connected to ‘stability’
in any form, but is instead focused
on constant adaptation to changing
conditions”
Johan Mathis Turi
Senior Sámi Herder, Founding
President and Secretary General of
WRH. UN Environmental Day,
Tromsø, June 2007
…Jáhki ii leat jagi viellja (One year is not another year’s brother)
Mr Johan Mathis Turi, Yamal 1997
Picture: Ø. Ravdna.
Risk for Freshwater,
Terrestrial & Marine
Ecosystems
Risk to Health & Well-
being of Arctic
Residents
Unprecedented
Challenges for Northern
Communities
(Complex Inter-linkages
between CC and Societal
Factors, Rate of Changes)
Key Arctic Risks (AR5 WG II SPM)
Photo: J.M. Gaup, 2009
IPCC AR5 WG II Polar Regions Chapter Summary for policy makers, 2014
Identifies three main risks for the polar regions
Recommend the following in response:
Improved understanding through scientific and indigenous
knowledge / Co-production of more robust solutions that
combine science and technology with indigenous knowledge
Governing reindeer husbandry in western Finnmark: Barriers for incorporating traditional knowledge in local-level policy implementation
Traditional knowledge is de-prioritized in
relation to scientific knowledge and notions
of rationality and practicality.
Address the importance of asymmetrical
power relations between ways of knowing.
Pic: Sámi reindeer herder
and PhD student
Ellen Inga Turi
Turi, E.I and C. Keskitalo (2014),
Polar Geography, Volume 37, Issue 3, October 2014.
Exploring how reindeer herders’ traditional
knowledge and social organization are incorporated
into policy implementation, focusing on western
Finnmark, Norway
We were herding reindeer up north while science still thought the world was flat
Loss of pastures, fragmentation of grazing areas and migration routes
Polar Regions Chapter
28.4 Human Adaptation
28.4.1 Indigenous Peoples:
“…Protection of grazing land will be the
most important adaptive strategy for
reindeer herders under climate change”
(Forbes et al., 2009; Magga et al., 2011; Kumpula et al., 2012;
Degteva and Nellemann, 2013).
Training Future Indigenous Arctic Leaders Indigenous Reindeer Herding Youth
From the Circumpolar North
Competence & Confidence Building Lectures, panels, assignments,
roleplays, individual coaching
“…Remember, it is not us reindeer herders who have been the cause of
climate change. The reindeer know what paths to take. Many people have
lost their connection with nature, but the animals maintain this
connection and that is why we follow the reindeer.”
Chukchi reindeer herder Vassily Vassilievich Nomchaivyn, Chukotka.
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