Reindeer Herders Without Reindeer. The Challenges of Joint Knowledge Production on Kolguev Island in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

Kolguev Island in the Russian Arctic has a unique tundra ecosystem and an indigenous Nenets population whose livelihood is traditionally based on reindeer herding. The Nenets faced a major crisis in 2013-2014 when the reindeer population collapsed. Widely different explanations for this collapse were put forward. This lack of a shared perspective points at the failure of genuine joint knowledge production (JKP) in the island's UNEP-GEF's ECORA project (2004-2009). The ECORA project aimed to achieve integrated ecosystem management by stimulating dialog and mutual learning among indigenous people, state agencies, and scientists. This paper analyses the failure of ECORA's JKP, using a recently developed framework of conditions for successful JKP. The results suggest that ECORA met none of these conditions. It failed at bringing the scientific and indigenous knowledge systems together, and the produced knowledge did not resonate with indigenous people's perception of living in Kolguev.

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into US public land management: Knowledge gaps and research priorities

“…Months of engagement may result in a single document, management action or other deliverable; yet those months of collaborative planning are vital for ethical project management (Long and Lake, 2018). Many funding sources do not provide support for project co-development, leading projects to skip the critical step of building trust and consensus (Görg et al, 2014;Johnson et al, 2015;Woodward and Marrfurra McTaggart, 2016;Pristupa et al, 2018;Adlam et al, 2021). Funding constraints often prevent providing food and travel to participants, depressing participation of historically disadvantaged, impoverished, or rural groups.…”

“…Because local and Indigenous communities are diverse, careful consideration must be given when conducting outreach to identify TEK-experts in order to create a holistic understanding of an ecosystem. In many cultures, for instance, women and men hold different knowledge of the landscape (Pfeiffer and Butz, 2005;Wirf et al, 2008;Pinel and Pecos, 2009;Elias et al, 2017;Pristupa et al, 2018;Rumbiak and Wambrauw, 2018;Nayak, 2019). Meeting times and locations should be created such that no group is systematically excluded from conversations.…”

Polar Regions

“…Execution of CBM programs in the Arctic has also proven to be labour intensive and difficult to sustain, requiring long-term financial support, agreements specifying data ownership, sufficient human capital, and in some cases, the involvement of boundary organisations that provide technical support (Pulsifer et al, 2012;Eicken et al, 2014) and link CBM with governance (CAFF, 2015b;Robards et al, 2018). As is the case in all knowledge production, power relationships (i.e., who decides what is a legitimate observation, who has access to resources for involvement and who benefits) have been challenging where the legitimacy of local knowledge and indigenous knowledge is questioned (e.g., Pristupa et al, 2018). There is high agreement and limited evidence that CBM facilitates knowledge co-production and resilience building.…”

Traditional Livelihood, Unstable Environment: Adaptation of Traditional Fishing and Reindeer Herding to Environmental Change in the Russian Arctic

“…In addition, they became wild, and it was hard to keep the herd together using snowmobiles, and reindeer were dying when trying to run away from the herders. Therefore, not only harsh weather conditions caused reindeer deaths, but the mismanagement of the herd did as well [19].…”

“…A dramatic situation was observed on Kolguev Island in Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where the whole population of reindeer died. Several factors caused reindeer death; however, climate change was the official explanation provided by local experts [19].…”