Traditional Reindeer Herding in the Arctic Region (Siberia –Russia)

Outstanding Features

Herding of the Northern Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is very ancient (3,000-5,000 years) and has been conducted by many ethnic communities, such as the Nenets, Chukchis, Saamis, Sel'kups or Chuds, in the tundra of Siberia (area of 56.4 Mha). Some communities like the Nenets are nomadic, while others like the Saamis are sedentary. The reindeer provides food and livelihood security to these communities; and used to be herded in groups of 3,000 head, foraging on herbs and sedges in the meadows and breeding in tundra and taiga wetlands in the summer. It has totemic and cult qualities in the shaman spirituality practised by these communities. These communities also hunted (e.g. wildfowl, moose) and gathered food products if near forests, fished if near waters (e.g. whitefish, herring, sturgeon, char, grayling, perch, smelt), and fed on marine mammals (seals, beluga whale) if near the sea. Under the collectivisation during the Soviet era, the animals belonged to state farms (‘Sovkhozy'), which possessed a range of subsidies (e.g. collective kitchens, medical care, child care and education, veterinary care, rifles and ammunition, snowmobiles, helicopter transport, salary, safety net). Most communities became culturally alienated from nature due to religious and leadership repression, and dependent on the state for a livelihood. With the break-up of the Soviet Union and transition towards a market economy, the state farms were privatised haphazardly, breaking herds into small private units without the technical support and subsidies, and without the social safety nets, due to the divestment of non-economic components. As a consequence, the reindeer population has declined by 75% with increased wolf predation, and reindeer herd size has declined to 1,000 head. Reindeer herders and herds are affected by recent oil, gas and mineral exploration and extraction.

Goods and Services Provided

Reindeer herders receive a variety of goods (e.g. meat, milk, hide, transport, tools) and services (e.g. nutrient cycling) from the traditional herding system.

Threats and Challenges

Reindeer herds are threatened by (a) economic destitution and reduced salaries resulting in barter of animals for basic needs and social welfare; (b) reduced veterinary care resulting in increased disease incidence; (c) geographic isolation and market constraints; (d) geo-political separation of continuous grazing lands by closed international borders (between Mongolia and Russia); (e) increased wolf predation in the absence of bounty payments and lack of ammunitions; (f) new resource exploitation pressures (e.g. oil and gas and mineral exploration and extraction); (g) unemployment, poor health care, disillusionment and alcoholism resulting in reduced human life-spans; (h) breakdown of family and community relations; (i) urban migration of youth for employment resulting in inter-generational loss of lifestyle; and (i) reindeer slaughter and herder embezzlement by new external managers.

Policy and Development Relevance

There is a need for designing new small-scale enterprises for sustainable reindeer herding, and for replenishing genetic stocks from increasing wild deer populations. It is also necessary to assess the policy, institutional and economic constraints for ensuring the socio-economic and cultural viability of reindeer herding in the tundra, to conserve the biodiversity associated with it.

Global Importance

The taiga and tundra is a large biome that could be adversely affected by neglect and the forces of globalization.