Forest fires altering reindeer migration routes, destroying grazing lands

Fires caused by global warming in Yakutia and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug engulfed hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in the final days of August. The authorities have reported that this is also affecting the reindeer migration routes. As of 31 August, there were 40 uncontrolled fires in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, covering 252,600 hectares of forest. Added to these are fires located in areas so remote that they are not even being tackled. Most of these areas are in Yakutia, where 1.1 million hectares of land are currently ablaze.

The consequences of the fires are being felt particularly severely on the Yamal Peninsula: a state of emergency has been declared and the reindeer’s traditional migration routes may be altered. For the indigenous peoples of the Yamal Peninsula, this information is of vital importance, because a fire in the tundra does not merely mean the destruction of all vegetation in a given area — it alters the reindeer’s movements, their river crossings, and the livelihoods of reindeer herders. Furthermore, Yamal is a key region for reindeer herding across the entire Russian Federation, where, for example, family-based reindeer herding has been preserved. For indigenous peoples, however, reindeer herding is not merely a matter of economic livelihood; it is linked to traditional knowledge, the use of their native language and the passing on of relevant traditions from generation to generation.

This year, however, raises another question: will the damage caused to indigenous peoples be calculated separately, or will the damage resulting from the fires be included in the overall statistics on fire-related damage? Hope has been expressed, however, that indigenous peoples will be taken into account in Yamal separately.