Issues of ethnoexpertise were discussed in the Murmansk region

A discussion club meeting was held in Murmansk dedicated to ethnological expertise and its interaction with the indigenous peoples of the North and the environment. It was held on the basis of the Laboratory for Sustainable Development PORA (Project Office for the Development of the Arctic), as stated in the message on the PORA website.

“Issues of conducting ethnological examinations in the region are still given little attention, although the region is rich in minerals, is a place of compact residence of the indigenous peoples of the North, and at the same time is actively involved in the protection of protected areas,” Evgeny Borovichev, director Sustainable Development Laboratories - a separate division of PORA in Murmansk, was quoted as saying.

Ethnological expertise is a scientific study of the impact of changes in the original habitat of indigenous peoples and the socio-cultural situation on the development of an ethnic group.

The need for its implementation in the Murmansk region arose in connection with the development of a project for the development of the Kolmozersky lithium deposit in the Lovozersky district. Earlier, the PORA website reported that scientists had begun field research as part of an ethnoexpertise on the Kola Peninsula. The work will take place from July to September 2023 inclusive. The operator of this ethno-expertise is the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic.

“PORA acts as an operator of ethnological expertise not for the first time. Andrey Ivanov, head of the Bureau of Arctic Competences, a separate division of PORA in Norilsk, spoke about this. He was the secretary of the EE expert commission in Taimyr in 2020. Within the framework of this ethno-expertise, the initiatives of indigenous peoples to ensure sustainable development were discussed, largely as a result of this work, Norilsk Nickel adopted a five-year program to support the indigenous peoples of Taimyr in the amount of more than 2 billion rubles. Many specialists who worked in this commission are also members of the energy efficiency group in the Lovozero district, Ivanov emphasized,” the report says.

In turn, acting Director of the Kandalaksha Reserve Viktor Petrov at the discussion club touched upon the problem of interaction between ethnological and environmental expertise. According to him, eco-expertise as an instrument of influence is now weak and, like it or not, it is up to ethno-expertise to take over its functions.

He emphasized that in large-scale projects it is necessary to pay attention to details. So, for example, the игшдвштп of point objects of large infrastructure at the places of mass crossing of deer led to the blocking of herds and the emergence of local spontaneous overgrazing. As a result, it damaged not only the natural environment, the report says.

“This should be taken into account from the point of view of traditional nature management. Because, having received a short-term gain, including for the indigenous peoples of the North, in the long term we can worsen their living conditions, the traditional use of natural resources will be lost, which will lead to the erosion of the ethnic group,” PORA quotes Petrov.

Aleksey Novozhilov, head of the Department of Ethnography and Anthropology at St. Petersburg State University, agreed with him. In his opinion, it is necessary to find ways to optimally solve the problems of the indigenous peoples of the North as a community, from demographic to general cultural and economic.

“At the end of July 2023, a group of scientists led by Novozhilov returned from the field stage of ethnological examination. For three weeks, the researchers studied the ethnographic features of Lovozero and Krasnoshchelye, as well as the ecological situation in the vicinity. Scientists have mapped the areas of reindeer herding, gathering of wild plants, fishing and hunting, which can be potentially affected by lithium mining here,” PORA said.