Features of Traditional Nature Management Transformation in Tundra Zone of Pechora Plain and Melville Peninsula

Abstract

Due to unsustainability of climate systems, indigenous peoples of the Arctic are forced to adapt their traditional way of life to a changing environment. Environmental, economic and social problems are increasing, giving rise to threats to the traditional hunting, reindeer breeding, fishing, and conservation of the original culture of the indigenous peoples living in the North.
The purpose of the work is to determine key changes leading to transformation of traditional environmental management mechanisms and vulnerability of tundra ecosystems on the case study of Pechora plain and Melville Peninsula.
Materials and methods: analysis of literature, statistical, and cartographic materials, and field reports on the transformation of the natural environment are applied.
Results and scientific novelty: a modern picture of the adaptation of traditional nature management to a changing climate has been shown. Key natural and climatic factors leading to a threat of traditional nature management in tundra have been identified. It has been revealed that (1) traditional experience and knowledge on spatial patterns of the natural resource allocation are under transformation owning to a changing environment. The availability of resources for hunting and fishing is reduced, the areas of medicinal plants growth are reduced too. Modern means of movement and hunting are replacing by traditional ones. (2) Traditional nature management is still resource-value and includes an economic cultural component, despite the transformation of its methods, as well as their dynamism and new elements appearance. (3) The obtained results could be the basis for the development of mechanisms supporting the traditional way of life of the North peoples as a component of the global ecosystem and regulator of its functions.