Changing Taiga

RECOMMENDATIONS

Increase herd size and IMPROVE reindeer welfare

Establish community-based monitoring AND MANAGEMENT

Record and preserve reindeer herderS’ traditional knowledge

Establish a programme to increase herd and identifying national and international collaborating partners. Develop a programme for prevention and treatment of reindeer diseases. This would also involve monitoring reindeer disease and welfare using both Western science and traditional knowledge.

Monitor variations in reindeer numbers, changes in migration routes, land use changes, industrial development, local climate variability and other environmental, social and economic changes affecting the reindeer herding community and taiga ecosystem. Monitoring should be conducted using traditional knowledge combined with technology. The information gathered could provide input for herders’ decision-making and management of reindeer husbandry, as well as for local, regional and national planning and decision-making. Establish and/or revise community partnerships and collaborative management plans to support biodiversity and traditional livelihoods of the Dukha reindeer herders. Management regimes should be developed based on the Dukha’s traditional knowledge about sustainable management of the ecosystem. Evaluate current hunting regulations to identify how the laws affect reindeer herders’ access to food and income.

Provide training and capacity building for the Dukha to record their traditional language, herders’ traditional terminology, husbandry and migration practices, as well as gender-specific knowledge about historical and current use of the land and its natural resources. Document herders’ traditional food culture to improve knowledge of the cultural basis for the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in the northwestern Hovsgol region. Ensure that Dukha children are taught their native language, as language carries with it cultural identity and knowledge.

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PORTRAITS OF TRANSITION NO.1