Wolves and Gold: Adap/ng to Climate Change and Industrial Development in Sakha Republic, Siberia, Russia Dr. Trevor K. Fuller, SUNY Oneonta Department of Geography; Drs. Antonina Savvinova and Viktoria Filippova, North Eastern Federal University Introduc/on Findings • Human Geography Residents spoke more oden of issues with • Indigenous populaon industrial develoment rather than climate • Evenk change specifically. While some residents • Yakutsk (pop. ~280,000) spoke of increased flooding frequency and • Natural Resources intensity., more residents had a negave • Diamonds, gold, iron, oil/gas percep/on of industrial development in the • ~20% of Russia’s gold region. In both 1998 and 2001 the Aldan River • ~50% of Russia’s diamonds flooded much of the low-lying areas. This • ‘Rare Earth Minerals’ fostered the development of a ‘new village’ • Khastyr Village, Sakha Republic for Khastyr residents further upland from the •Populaon = 1,600 Sakha Republic is 1/6 of “It is necessary to obtain village’s exis/ng site. However, financing for •Subsistence lifestyle Russia’s land area. permission to enter this relocaon program have run out. Also, •Fisheries, Hun/ng, Reindeer Herding through the territory of reindeer herds have been affected by lower •Timber industry the pipeline” (resident) amount of snowfall which allows for greater predaon by wolves. Fisheries have been impacted according to residents. Addi/onally, residents reported that the area has been even colder in recent years with increased winds. Recently, gold mining industries are contes/ng legal rights to land management currently held by Evenk people. Conclusion Objecves Preliminary inves/gaon revealed some • Preliminary field research to gather residents held percep/ons that more recent Evenk percep/ons of climate change and changes in weather paerns are related to whether/how local villagers have The Aldan River flows climate change. The town has worked with implemented adap/ve strategies in “Last year I lost ¼ of my into the Lena River, one the Russian government to relocate a por/on dealing with local-scale climate reindeer herd to of Russia’s largest rivers of the ‘old village’ residents to the more adjustments. wolves” (resident). • Assess Evenk responses, strategies, and elevated ‘new village’. The Evenk tribe has coping mechanisms regarding the secured an unprecedented legal recogni/on industrializaon of their homeland. by the Russian government. The document includes a map delineang the area of land over which the Evenk tribe has legal claim. It remains to be seen whether the Russian government (and industry) will recognize its legal rights. Con/nued research is needed to monitor future adap/ve strategies as well as the legal claim of Evenk people to their land. However, a preliminary finding is that residents are more concerned about changes Methodology The laws do not protect induced by local industrial development than us. Industrial enterprises, by larger-scale climate change. Open-ended interviews were conducted The Aldan River flows prospecting cooperatives with a snowball scenario whereby villagers into the Lena River, one cheat, they take our recommended other poten/al of Russia’s largest rivers reindeer meat but do not par/cipants. A total My colleagues from pay the money (resident). North Eastern Federal University conducted preliminary fieldwork and established contacts in July 2014. In September 2014 we visited residents of Khastyr village. Interviewees included the village mayor, the cultural acvies Acknowledgments coordinator, as well as several residents. In SUNY Oneonta Faculty Research Grant from addi/on to open-ended interviews, a If it were an independent Grants Development Office at SUNY Oneonta survey was also distributed to residents. country, Sakha Republic would Quesons revolved around industrial be the 8th largest country in the world. Residents of Khastyr Village for their development and observaons regarding hospitality climate change in the region. North Eastern Federal University .