Oskal a 20150708_1500_upmc_jussieu_-_room_309

Photo: E.I. Turi/ EALÁT, 2007

Real Impacts for Arctic Indigenous Peoples: Illusions of Adaptation or Resilience? Our Common Future Under Climate Change, Paris, July 8, 2015

Anders Oskal Executive Director ICR

Co-Author of IPCC AR5 WG II Polar Regions Chapter

Pic: E.I Turi, IPY EALÁT, 2008

!

Photo: J.M. Gaup, 2009

Even, Sakha Rep.

L. Monami, 2006

Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets

Ø, Ravna, 2006

Chukchi, Chukotka

A. Oskal, 2008

Dukha, Mongolia

S.D Mathiesen, 2003

World Reindeer Husbandry A Circumpolar Livelihood for Indigenous Peoples

E.I Turi, EALÁT, 2008

Pic: E.I Turi ICR/ EALÁT, 2007

Pic: L.Monami Pic: E. Agruboeva

Pic: S.D Mathiesen, ICR/ EALÁT, 2008

Reindeer Herding is an Arctic, Indigenous, Nomadic Way of Life

Pic: B. Alexander

A human-coupled ecosystem

A model for management . .

A Time of Historical Change

for World Reindeer Herders

IPCC AR5 WG II - Polar Regions Chapter:

“…Complex inter-linkages between societal,

economic, and political factors and climatic

stresses represent unprecedented

challenges for northern communities”

Oil and gas

Shipping

Main fisheries

Tourism

Governance

Key Drivers in a Changing Arctic

Partially based on graphics

used with kind permission of

Arctic Council AMAP

Climate change

Mining

Globalisation… …on top of every other challenge

L. Monami, 2006 E.I Turi, 2008

Trym I. Bergsmo, IPY, 2006 E. Agruboeva, 2008

A. Kutskiy, 2008

”…We parliamentarians strongly believe

the impact of climate change to be a

matter of urgency. The climate change

already has a strong impact on the living

conditions of the Arctic indigenous

peoples. And if the ice disappears for

large parts of the year, we will see an

explosion in human activities in the

Arctic. We need to find ways to regulate

this activity and keep ahead of the

development.”

Hill Marta Solberg, Chair of the Arctic

Parliamentarians, Arctic Council

Ministerial Meeting, Yamal October 2006

The relation between climate change and changed use of the Arctic

750 ppm ~ 4.3 0C 550 ppm ~ 3 0C 450 ppm ~ 2 0C

“We will be exploring a world where humankind has never been”

This is an incredible challenge we all face as a

civilization - A “sweet spot” for civilisation? Climate Change is an Incredible Challenge we all Face as a Civilization

ACIA,

2005

Ex: Snow Change, Extreme Weather Events, Access to Pastures

Dr Inger Marie G Eira, 2012:

Silent language of snow: Two ways of knowing

Reindeer herding and climate change

Reindeer herders’ vulnerability network study.

IPY EALÁT-Network Study RESEARCH, OUTREACH, MONITORING and INFORMATION

Project leaders prof. Ole Henrik Magga,

prof. Svein D Mathiesen and director Anders Oskal

Reindeer herding in Topolinoe, Eastern-Siberia, April 2008

Picture by Ms Kari Utsi, ICR/ EALÁT

Adaptation only takes place on the local level!

Examples of local reindeer herders’ adaptation strategies based on traditional knowledge

Herd design, castration

Tree lichen in

Taiga areas

Human selection

of animals/

breeding

Insect control Landscape utilisation

Traditional

food culture

“…We have some knowledge about

how to live in a changing

environment. The term ‘stability’ is a

foreign word in our language. Our

search for adaptation strategies is

therefore not connected to ‘stability’

in any form, but is instead focused

on constant adaptation to changing

conditions”

Johan Mathis Turi

Senior Sámi Herder, Founding

President and Secretary General of

WRH. UN Environmental Day,

Tromsø, June 2007

…Jáhki ii leat jagi viellja (One year is not another year’s brother)

Mr Johan Mathis Turi, Yamal 1997

Picture: Ø. Ravdna.

Risk for Freshwater,

Terrestrial & Marine

Ecosystems

Risk to Health & Well-

being of Arctic

Residents

Unprecedented

Challenges for Northern

Communities

(Complex Inter-linkages

between CC and Societal

Factors, Rate of Changes)

Key Arctic Risks (AR5 WG II SPM)

Photo: J.M. Gaup, 2009

IPCC AR5 WG II Polar Regions Chapter Summary for policy makers, 2014

Identifies three main risks for the polar regions

Recommend the following in response:

Improved understanding through scientific and indigenous

knowledge / Co-production of more robust solutions that

combine science and technology with indigenous knowledge

Governing reindeer husbandry in western Finnmark: Barriers for incorporating traditional knowledge in local-level policy implementation

Traditional knowledge is de-prioritized in

relation to scientific knowledge and notions

of rationality and practicality.

Address the importance of asymmetrical

power relations between ways of knowing.

Pic: Sámi reindeer herder

and PhD student

Ellen Inga Turi

Turi, E.I and C. Keskitalo (2014),

Polar Geography, Volume 37, Issue 3, October 2014.

Exploring how reindeer herders’ traditional

knowledge and social organization are incorporated

into policy implementation, focusing on western

Finnmark, Norway

We were herding reindeer up north while science still thought the world was flat

Loss of pastures, fragmentation of grazing areas and migration routes

Polar Regions Chapter

28.4 Human Adaptation

28.4.1 Indigenous Peoples:

“…Protection of grazing land will be the

most important adaptive strategy for

reindeer herders under climate change”

(Forbes et al., 2009; Magga et al., 2011; Kumpula et al., 2012;

Degteva and Nellemann, 2013).

Training Future Indigenous Arctic Leaders Indigenous Reindeer Herding Youth

From the Circumpolar North

Competence & Confidence Building Lectures, panels, assignments,

roleplays, individual coaching

“…Remember, it is not us reindeer herders who have been the cause of

climate change. The reindeer know what paths to take. Many people have

lost their connection with nature, but the animals maintain this

connection and that is why we follow the reindeer.”

Chukchi reindeer herder Vassily Vassilievich Nomchaivyn, Chukotka.