Adaptation to Change in Reindeer Husbandry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia

With 170,000 domestic reindeer and 1295 reindeer herders, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a vital region for the reindeer herding economy. The Republic is the homeland of five Indigenous peoples that herd reindeer – Evenki, Even, Dolgan, Yukaghir, and Chukchi. The paper looks at the history and characteristics of Yakutia’s reindeer herding and herding peoples and analyzes the transformation of the traditional reindeer husbandry model into a collectivized industry from the 1930s. Loss of pastures, predators, and decline of traditional knowledge are affecting reindeer herders, with climate change exacerbating the problems. Another aim of the paper is to show the impact of climate change on the reindeer herding development through the example of four reindeer herding regions of Yakutia from the north to the south. In this regard, the article examines the climate change trends and, in a historical retrospective, the economic settings of this traditional nature management sector, which employs only the Indigenous peoples of the North. The identified climate change trends suggest that climate warming combined with other economic transformations has diverse effects on reindeer husbandry in the four districts under investigation. The findings indicate that challenges such as loss to predators, loss of grazing land, and decline in traditional knowledge preservation affect herding communities already affected by climate change. The authors highlight the relevance of engaging Indigenous reindeer herding communities and their traditional knowledge in developing mechanisms for adaptation to climate change and predation. It is essential to support herders in their aspiration to decide their destiny and strengthen the family-based economy.