The Yamal LNG Project and the Nenets Reindeer Nomads Impacts, Survival and Indigenous Opposition to Gas Exploitation in Russia’s Arctic Publisher GegenStrömung - CounterCurrent c/o Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie (INFOE) e. V. Melchiorstr. 3, D-50670 Köln Tel. +49-(0)221-739 2871
[email protected], www.infoe.de Author Daria Morgounova Schwalbe Editing Johannes Rohr and Heike Drillisch Layout Peer Neumann Photo Credits Daria Morgounova Schwalbe Front cover: Setting up a traditional nenets tent (chum) on the tundra.In the traditional nenets cul- ture, a woman decides where to set up a chum. Map Credits Page 5: By Ezhiki – Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District on the map of Russia as of January 1, 2008. CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons Page 6: By Pticy – Yamal Peninsula. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons This report is based on field research conducted by the author in May 2016. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the author. GegenStrömung - CounterCurrent is a non-gov- ernmental initiative working for the observation of human rights and environmental protection by German actors in their activities abroad. Its legal sponsor is INFOE e. V. It is member of ECA Watch, an international civil society network that campaigns for the reform of export credit agencies (ECAs). For more information regarding ECA Watch, visit www.eca-watch.org. We were flying over the seemingly endless white space of permafrost for over an hour when my companion, a woman in her mid-thirties, pulled me towards the helicopter window: “Look over there, to the right.” She paused.