Tag Archives: indigenous people

A bear “dining room” keeps a village safe

From the field, General, Polar bears,

© WWF Russia / Tatiana Minenko


Despite temperatures well below freezing, Cape Kozhevnikov is bustling. The Umky Patrol is hard at work in this Russian Arctic nature reserve, using tractors and snowmobiles to transport frozen walrus carcasses and pile them at a distance from the nearby village of Ryrkaypy. The result is a “polar bear dining room” that keeps both bears and villagers safe from conflict.
“Umky” means “polar bear” in the local Chukchi language, and the the Umky Patrol works to ensure the safety of people living near polar bears, preserve walrus haul-outs and other unique places, and to help local people participate in scientific research on polar bears and other animals. The Patrol was developed in 2006 by WWF and the people of Vankarem, a village on the Arctic shores of Chukotka, Russia. Today, patrols flourish in Russia, Canada and the United States.
Two hungry bears have already visited the village this month, and the Patrol had to encourage these uninvited guests to leave town — a stressful experience for both bears and people. So with support from WWF, the Patrol has rented equipment to create a “bear dining room” away from the village. Villagers hope the bears will be less hungry, and less inclined to look for a meal in the village — a positive outcome for all.
“We must try to protect each bear”, said Tatiana Minenko, Umky Patrol coordinator in Ryrkaypy. “Just a kilometer away from the village, with the active support of WWF and local people Cape Kozhevnikov nature monument was created. Thousands of Pacific walruses rest here each autumn. Now we are here to help polar bears. ”
Original article on WWF.ru (in Russian)
More about the Umky Patrol:

Who is an expert on the Arctic?

General,

By Clive Tesar
Academic conferences such as this one are filled with experts. Experts in anthropology, law, sociology, education and several more disciplines. How do we know they’re expert? Because the vast majority have letters after their name that tell us so – there are more doctors here than in your average hospital (though I wouldn’t want these doctors performing surgery on me). But when it comes to telling the world about the Arctic, are these the right sort of experts? Continue reading →

Fostering understanding: US-Russian polar bear information exchange

General, Polar bears, ,

In early April, WWF’s Bering and Arctic Sea program officer, Elisabeth Kruger, traveled to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service field office in the Arctic to assist with interpretation for our Moscow colleague, Natalia Illarionova.
In these blog posts, Elisabeth describes her experiences on the Arctic slope and the work that the FWS does to help us understand the Chukchi Sea polar bear population.
The study is conducted over US waters, just miles from Russia.  Exchanges such as this between Russian and American biologists will help to foster a similar research program in Russia.
 
 
By Elisabeth Kruger
April 8, 2011

Photo: Natalia Illarionova

Photo: Natalia Illarionova


Natalia Illarionova, a polar bear biologist at the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Nature Conservation and a member of the Marine Mammal Council, arrived from Moscow with the help of a WWF travel grant one week ago to learn about the US Fish and Wildlife Service polar bear research team’s mark-recapture study techniques.   I am excited to be joining her and the USFWS team near Kotzebue tomorrow to provide linguistic support. Continue reading →

Documenting Inuit elder perspectives on climate change

General, Polar bears, , , ,

The WWF Arctic Global Polar Bear specialist, Geoff York, is on a field trip in Churchill on the Hudson Bay, observing and blogging about polar bears. Below is the third blog from our ‘eyes and ears on the tundra’. Read more blogs by Geoff York.

By Geoff York
This year I had a unique opportunity while in town. PBI and Frontiers North Adventures premiered a new film by Zacharias Kunuk and Ian Mauro. The documentary was filmed in Inuktitut with English subtitles and is called Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change. Some of you may recognize Zach from his last award winning project, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner). This new work is a documentary recording Inuit elder perspectives on climate change across the Nunavut region of the Canadian high arctic. Along with the discussions on observed changes witnessed by elders and their concerns about the future, the film highlights some fairly direct and sometimes angry views around polar bears, conservation efforts, and the scientists who study this animal.
Untitled1 Continue reading →

Northwest Passage: No more warm and fuzzy ideals

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This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
Continue reading →

Northwest Passage: Halfway home

General, ,

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck

Silent Sound may be halfway home, but we’re now entering some of the most treacherous waters in the Arctic as we sail past the graves of those who died seeking this passage hundreds of years ago.
Silent Sound left Cambridge Bay on Thursday morning, and we’re now nearing Gjoa Haven on King William Island. Victory Point is where Franklin’s men left their last note in a cairn before stumbling on through the snow, eventually succumbing to cannibalism and a cold and miserable death.
None of that for us, I hope. We have about 4,600 nautical miles behind us, with some 4,000 miles left to go. The journey has become more difficult in the past week, but nothing to match the hardships of true explorers. We had some engine trouble in the week before reaching Cambridge Bay, and that meant our whole visit was taken up with greasy work deep in the bilges as we remounted the engine.
We added to our woes by running aground as we came into Cambridge Bay, giving us a forced seven-hour time out as we waited for the tide to lift us. A humbling experience, but thankfully there was no serious damage.
The men who left their names on the bays and islands around us battled winter storms and scurvy to stay alive; we battle to keep our laptops charged GPS working. Same place, different time.
The crew of Silent Sound have been reflecting on those differences in recent weeks as we’ve dropped anchor in increasingly remote communities and marvelled at how past traditions and the reality of 21st century life come together.
Online social communities are a huge hit, and a we’ve seen grandmothers put down the traditional skin clothing they are sewing to have an online video chat with their grandchildren thousands of miles away. Yet, we have also been struck by how the land and its wildlife permeate all aspects of life. Hunting still rules the calendar for many people here, and we’ve benefited from their success as we’ve left every port with a fridge full of game. Those that do hold regular 9-to-5 jobs drop their work and pick up their rifles when the summer beluga migration begins or they spot a herd of caribou.
Those hunters have been extremely generous in sharing their game with us, giving us a welcome break from our dry provisions of beans and pasta.
We are not the first to rely on the Inuit for fresh meat, but while early explorers left with their holds full of furs and lands claimed for their king, we leave each port with new Facebook friends and a better understanding of how climate change and modern conveniences are changing the face of Inuit culture.

Northeast passage: Varnak

General, ,

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Neil Hamilton
After approaching the south end of Veygach Island we anchored at 3am outside one of the very rare villages in the Russian arctic, Varnak, and slept. This is Nenets territory: the samoyeds of historical legend, an indigenous people of the region between Archangelsk and Yamal peninsula. In the morning we landed, and met with the community leader and what seemed like the entire village: visitors are exceedingly uncommon, so we (especially dressed in our bright blue goretex ‘smurf suits’) were quite a novelty.
The village has about 100 people, and as was proudly explained, about 40 children, all of whom are shyly watching us from the windows as we pass.  The houses are wooden, ranging in age from early Soviet times to quite new, and either raw timber or painted bright colours, particularly blue.  The single street, ‘Moscow Road’, is a sea of wildflowers with a timber boardwalk footpath – obviously it gets wet underfoot quite often!
Alexander and his two sons offered to take us to see the reinder herd on the tundra about 7km away.  We walked with them across the rolling hills and valleys, glad of our rubber boots in the marshes.  It’s high summer here (despite being only about 5 degrees) and the upper layer of the permafrost is melted so there is plenty of water around.
With summer comes comes a burst of life to the Arctic unseen anywhere else.  24 hours of light ‘supercharges’ the ecology, so the entire annual cycle of reproduction, birth, feeding and growth takes places in a few short weeks.  Wherever we looked we could see evidence of this: lemmings as I have never seen them before, arctic skua families aloft, buzzards, and lots of snowy owls.
Snowy owls rank as one of my favourites birds and in most places I have been are rare.  Here I saw at least 10 without trying, openly sitting on high points in the tundra, or gliding low over hunting grounds.   We were able to approach to about 20 metres without disturbing them. Simply amazing!
Then to see the reindeer, about a thousand, with a single conical felt tent (a ‘chum’) for the herders to live in.  They use a reindeer-drawn sleigh and dogs to round up the stock, fat and healthy on the abundant lichen and grasses.  The animals surge in one mass, huge velvety antlers above them, down the hills and up the other side. When you imagine the weather here for most of the year (very cold, snow-covered and wind swept) you begin to understand the the adaptation of these, the oldest domesticated stock on earth, extraordinary animals.

Varnak reindeer herders

Varnak reindeer herders


The Nenets people of Varnak live simple lives, herding, hunting, and fishing.  They have electricity for light, coal for heating, TV, and a telephone for the village. Perhaps one resupply ship per year (which was due in February, but  hasn’t arrived yet) and few if any visitors. And for most of the year they are subjected to bitter cold and a frozen land.
We bought a few handmade reindeer skin articles, and gave some perhaps token gifts for their kindness in letting us into their lives for a day.  I certainly felt honoured to have met them and seen how they live in a harsh, arctic environment.
Then we returned to the ‘Explorer’, and sailed east through Yugoskiy Shar into the arctic Kara Sea.

‘Climate change is changing who we are’

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This week, Clive Tesar, Head of Communications for the Arctic Programme, is at the ‘2030 North’ conference in Ottawa, Canada. The challenge of the conference is to try to imagine what life in Canada’s North will be like in 2030, and to devise a plan to deal with that new reality.
Last night, the conference opened with an address by Inuit leader, Sheila Watt Cloutier. She has won many environmental prizes around the world for her work on negotiating an international treaty on toxic chemicals. Her work now focuses very much on what she sees as the biggest challenge now facing her people, and people across the northern world. This is how she describes the size and impact of that problem; “Climate change is changing who we are, where we come from, and where we want to be.”
Watt-Cloutier described the several changes she has already seen in her life from climate change. She spoke of seeing her childhood home in northern Quebec change from a landscape of small shrubs to one of tall trees. She also spoke of less benign changes, of the challenges that disappearing sea ice pose to a culture that relies on sea ice as a highway and hunting ground.
Watt Cloutier also talked about her concerns about the increasing friction in the Arctic, and its increasing militarization. While she is not opposed to the military, she believes sovereignty is best achieved by keeping the sea ice frozen. If the Arctic seas remain frozen, there is no argument about who owns tights of passage through them, no need to guard against marine incursions by other countries.
The sea ice is likely to continue melting, even if governments begin to take urgent and effective action on climate change, a fact Watt Cloutier acknowledges. This is why she is proposing a treaty for the Arctic, a treaty that would include the Arctic’s Indigenous peoples in an international agreement to jointly manage resources. She argues that Indigenous peoples, as people who know the northern environment best, are best suited to exercise a role of stewardship of the north.

Summit hears from a crazy old priest

General,

Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann is presented with an Alaskan native copper shiled following his speech to the Summit

Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann is presented with an Alaskan native copper shiled following his speech to the Summit


Clive Tesar, Head of Communications for the Arctic Programme, attended the ‘2030 North’ conference in Ottawa, Canada. The challenge of the conference was to try to imagine what life in Canada’s North will be like in 2030, and to devise a plan to deal with that new reality.
By Clive Tesar
One of the highlights of today was a crazy old priest talking about love, brotherhood and sisterhood.
That was how Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly, decribed himself – or to be more accurate, he was telling the story of being so described by a newspaper columnist. The columnist was apparently complaining about the fact that Brockmann’s influence was rubbing off on world leaders.
That influence was apparently evident yesterday, when the United Nations, on ’Earth Day’, voted to declare the day ‘Mother Earth Day’.
Today, Brockmann put the force of his position behind the Indigenous peoples. He called on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the negotiating body that is trying to come up with a new deal on climate change) to respect and implement the rights of Indigenous peoples, including the right of prior informed consent before any climate change project is brought into their communities.
That is an important consideration to many of the Indigenous peoples here, who have concerns that governments will take climate change actions that could have negative effects on Indigenous peoples. Of particular concern is an initiative to make sure carbon remains stored in the world’s forests. The Indigenous peoples are worried that in their zeal to protect forests, some governments may be tempted to trample on Indigenous peoples who rely on the forests for a sustainable livelihood.
Brockmann also threw his weight behind a key demand of Indigenous peoples here, to have a voice at the UNFCCC, so that they can directly influence the next climate deal, a deal that will be crucial for the future well being of the Indigenous peoples.

A rousing call to action

General,

img_01011Clive Tesar, Head of Communications for the Arctic Programme, attended the ‘2030 North’ conference in Ottawa, Canada. The challenge of the conference was to try to imagine what life in Canada’s North will be like in 2030, and to devise a plan to deal with that new reality.
By Clive Tesar
“We are a fortunate people,” begins Winona LaDuke. ”We have a shot at making a difference.” The indigenous writer, activist and economist knows about trying to make a difference, writes Clive Tesar. She was Ralph Nader’s choice for vice-president on the Green party ticket in two US elections.
Today at the Indigenous Peoples’ Summit, she gave a rousing call to action to the delegates, telling them that they must oppose “all new forms of insanity” such as the “Crack cocaine of oil sands”. She talked of peak oil, of the fact that globalization requires cheap oil and plentiful money, and now both are in short supply, so the world can expect many shocks, and must change its way of doing business.
For me, the most affecting part of her speech was her account of her work with a particular Indigenous community to help give people what they need for climate change resilience; a combination of the old and the new.
The “old” is a handful of corn seeds, seeds that were native to the area, but had been kept in a seed bank. This corn grows close to the ground, so it doesn’t get blown over by high winds. It doesn’t require much water, so it is resistant to drought. These conditions, increasing storms, and droughts, are both forecast to be consequences of climate change in American Midwest.
The “new” is a wind turbine – but as LaDuke pointed out, not brand new, but an older, refurbished one that had a simple assembly, so it could be erected and maintained by local people, “so you don’t have to get some guy from Denmark to fix it”. She pointed out that many indigenous communities are well situated to develop wind or solar energy, and to become energy self-sufficient, and perhaps also exporters of renewable energy.
She sees this twin strategy, of reclaiming and repatriating traditional food sources, and of developing appropriate technologies, as ways to make indigenous communities stronger, more self sufficient and more resilient to climate change impacts.