English translation from the official periodical of RAIPON “Мир коренных народов живая арктика” (Indigenous Peoples’ World Living Arctic) No. 4, 2000



International Youth conference on "The indigenous peoples and the environment of the Russian North"

Tomsk, 4-6 September, 2000

Daria Kudriashova


From 4 to 6 September the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation (RAIPON) organised an international youth conference, "The Indigenous peoples and the environment of the Russian North", in the town of Tomsk. The participants represented youth organisations of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Unfortunately, the representatives of the industry though invited did not participate in the conference. Those present at the conference were surprised as it seems to be crucial to start a dialogue between the indigenous peoples and the industry due to the intensive industrial development of natural resources of the North, Siberia and the Far East.

The main aim of the conference was to attract the attention of the young generation to the major environmental problems in the territories of traditional use of natural resources in the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russian Federation. This aim has been achieved.

The first day of the conference was allocated to welcome addresses by Mr Ivan Karelin, the regional president of the RAIPON branch of the Tomskaya Oblast and the Head of "Kolta Kup", and by Ms Olga Proskurina, the Deputy Head of the Department of Labour Market and Traditional Use of Natural Resources at the Ministry of Federal, Ethnic and Migrational Policies. Ms Irina Shafrannik, the RAIPON vice-president, and Mr Thomas Koehler, the Adviser at the Danish Agency for Environmental Protection, presented introductory reports.

Key reports were presented by Mr Aleksandr Veselov, the Executive Manager of Ekoyuris, the Institute for Environmental and Legal Problems ("The Industry in the North and the Indigenous peoples - a compromise or a conflict?", based on the example of the oil companies that work in the North), by Ms Layla Zeynalova, a barrister based in Moscow, on behalf of the Legal Centre "Rodnik" ("The realisation of rights of the indigenous peoples as a tool of environmental protection"), by Ms Olga Murashko, IWGIA's Russian Co-ordinator ("The right to traditional use of natural resources and to the traditional knowledge"), by Ms Larisa Abryutina, RAIPON Vice-President on matters of public health ("The demographics and the health of the indigenous peoples - the policy of preservation"). A discussion followed the reports. The representatives of youth organisations could share their experiences in order to determine the place of the indigenous youth in the decision-making process for environmental problems, to designate priorities and to define directions for activities in the future.

Further, the reports of the Arctic Council programmes and the reports of the Environmental UN-UNEP Programme were presented.

A training workshop on project drafting was conducted in the framework of the Conference. The participants could study new ways of drafting project proposals based on recommendations of the Programme of Arctic Evaluation Monitoring. Thomas Koehler and Daria Kudriashova conducted the workshop.

Main results of the Conference are the Resolution and RAIPON's Youth Programme, adopted on the basis of suggestions and amendments made by the participants. The resolution suggests the establishment of an initiative group on environmental affairs with 13 representatives of various Russian regions. The Initiative Group has the task to organise work in the guidelines of the Programme and to control the implementation of decisions in the resolution. An action plan was discussed and adopted by the Group.

The conference has attracted interest of the local authority in the Tomskaya Oblast. The Conference was in the local TV news, where Mr Pavel Sulyandziga, RAIPON Vice-president, spoke in a direct transmission.

The Department for Public Relations of the Legislative Assembly in Tomsk was as well interested in the conference. The contribution of the Department to the work of the conference was quite significant, as they approached the conference organisers to become partners and to establish co-operation.

The young participants of the conference were very active. They came from all over the country. They were all very different, clever, young and beautiful! The regional associations chose the representatives to participate in the workshop themselves. In result, the young people arrived burning with desire to work and realise the ideas. One has to note Tatyana Korzh of the Association of the Khabarovskiy Kray, Youth centre "Fenisk Amura", Dmitri Berezhkov of Council for the Revival of the Itelmeni, newspaper "Aborigen Kamchatki", Nikolay Latyshev of the Nenets Association "Yasavey", and many, many others who contributed significantly to the work of the conference. The students of Tomsk deserve a special gratitude for all the local organising work they did.

Because of their efforts, the young participants managed to work at the conference and to get acquainted with the town, to go on lengthy tours, visit the local ethnographic museum and achieve a lot more.

I believe we managed to become friends and find a common language with everybody at the conference. I hope the words said in Tomsk won't be forgotten, and the great plans will be realised.

I hope everything will be as intended.


_________________________________________

The Resolution of the International Youth conference on "The indigenous peoples and the environment of the North, Siberia and the Far East"

Tomsk, 4-6 September, 2000

We, the participants of the International Youth Conference "The indigenous peoples and the environment of the North, Siberia and the Far East", representing the indigenous youth of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation, and the indigenous youth of the Arctic region,

- Understanding the responsibility for the future of the indigenous peoples and for the preservation of our environment,

- Taking into account the experience of the elder generation in environmental protection,

- Taking into account the decisions by previous forums on environmental and indigenous affairs of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

- Taking into account the foreign and the Russian experience of the 'spirit for the new partnership', proclaimed by at 47th UN General Assembly,

- Understanding that the environment in the residence areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East forms a basis of existence and life of the indigenous peoples,

- Taking into account the modern trend of expansion of the industrial development in the North, Siberia and the Far East,

- Assessing the degradation of the environment in the North, Siberia and the Far East, which effects the way of life, and the life itself of the indigenous peoples in the North, Siberia and the Far East, that in turn leads to inevitable changes in the state of flora and fauna of the Arctic North,

- Taking into account the data on environmental catastrophes as a result of activities by the industry and the military forces in the Arctic region,

- Understanding the necessity to establish partnerships in the decision-making process and the process of preservation of the Arctic environment between the organisations of the indigenous peoples, the federal and the regional authorities, the local authorities, the industry, Russian and international environmental organisations,

- Having discussed these problems at the workshop,


Express concern by the state of environment of the North, Siberia and the Far East, underline the necessity to implement urgent actions in order to solve the environmental problems of the North, Siberia and the Far East. The development of partnerships and of joint actions to preserve the environment is a sound base to cooperate and to achieve our purposes. We adopt the following decisions and recommendations:

1. To approve actions and intentions of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (RAIPON), the national authorities, the Russian and international non-governmental organisations, that are directed towards developing partnerships in order to preserve and achieve reasonable use of natural resources in the North, Siberia and the Far East, to protect and restore the environment, and also towards other actions on sustainable development of the Arctic region.

2. To express support to RAIPON's actions directed towards sustainable development and preservation of the environment in regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East.

3. To address the President of the Russian Federation and demand

·   To restore a federal independent governmental agency on supervision of implementation of the environmental legislation,

·   To speed up the adoption of the legislation on implementation of the constitutional rights of the indigenous peoples and ethnic groups, in order to protect our traditional environment and traditional way of life.

4. To address the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation

·   To inspect the compliance with the Law "On Guarantees of the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Russian Federation".

5. To address the Government of Russian Federation with the demand to

·   To comply with the environmental legislation of the Russian Federation and the international standards on environmental protection,

·   To adopt urgent actions to preserve and to restore environments of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To ensure the control and monitoring of the state of environment of the North, Siberia and the Far East, with obligatory participation of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To adopt actions to implement constitutional rights of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, in the field of protection of a traditional way of life on the traditional areas,

·   According to the Constitution and the laws of the Russian Federation to ensure the full participation of the indigenous peoples in actions and programs on the use, control and protection of the environment of the North, Siberia and the Far East, based on principles of partnership.

6. To address to Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation with the demand

·   To adopt actions on improvement of the legislative base on participation of the indigenous peoples of the North in the control of the use of natural resources and of environmental protection of the North, Siberia and the Far East with participation of the representatives of organisations of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in drafting the legislation.

·   To adopt the federal law "On Territories of Traditional Use by the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation", taking into account the suggestions of the elected representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East.

7. To address the executive and legislative authorities in the regions of the Russian Federation, where the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East live, with the recommendation

·   To ensure the development of a legal base on protection of the traditional way of life of the traditional areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and the control of compliance with this legislation,

·   To attract the regional organisations of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East to the decision-making process on the base of partnership, to distribute experience of such cooperation onto other regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   Not to allow the practice of licensing areas of a traditional use of natural resources to industrial development without co-ordination with the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To develop, together with regional associations of the indigenous peoples and centres of protection and use of historical and cultural monuments, a programme on preservation and protection of indigenous sanctuaries, places of worship, and archaeological monuments.

8. To address the management of the companies that use natural resources in the residence areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, with the demand

·   To take into account the international experience of interaction with organisations of the indigenous peoples in discussions of programmes of industrial development in the North, in Siberia and in the Far East of the Russian Federation,

·   To use the best environmentally safe technologies,

·   To comply strictly with the Russian laws and international agreements on environmental protection and use of natural resources,

·   To carry out public hearings on environmental matters and ethnoecological assessments when developing new deposits in the residence and traditional use areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, according to the Constitution and legislation of Russian Federation,

·   To distribute the information on new projects, including possible consequences of their implementation, to involve the elected representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East to monitor implementation of the projects.

9. To address the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East with the recommendation

·   To develop the concept of strategic planning and an action plan for the Association with participation of youth in order to present and adopt them at the IV Congress of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, to assist in preparation of the Congress of indigenous youth,

·   To promote the participation of the indigenous youth in the environmental actions and programs of the Association, and to organise annual youth conferences on the indigenous peoples and the environment of the Russian North,

·   To promote the participation of the indigenous youth in the international environmental programs of the indigenous peoples, and in the programs of the Arctic Council on sustainable development,

·   To promote the establishment of a Youth information environmental network on the state of environment in the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To conduct training workshops on ecology, project development, fundraising and computer use locally among the indigenous youth,

·   To establish a database on environmental and other violations in the residence areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, to publish the information on the violation in the magazine of the Association "Indigenous Peoples' World - Living Arctic", and on the web-site,

·   To distribute the information and experience in environmental decision-making and decision-making in the area of traditional use of natural resources among the indigenous youth of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To promote implementation of the Youth programme of actions adopted at the conference.

10. To address the regional Associations of the indigenous peoples of the North with the recommendation

·   To involve the youth in the establishment of a database on environmental and other violations in the residence areas of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To involve the indigenous youth in activities of the associations, especially in the development of the new information technologies,

·   The participation in the regional environmental programmes,

·   The development and implementation of the programmes on studies and preservation of traditional indigenous knowledge,

11. To address the Board of Directors of the ethnic enterprises of RAIPON with the suggestion

·   To create a Fund of support to the indigenous youth organisations with participation of RAIPON,

·   To involve the youth in the programmes on small business and on environmental and ethnic tourism.

12. To address the youth and the indigenous youth organisations of the peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East with the following suggestions:

·   To participate in the movement of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East and in the activities of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and of the other non-governmental organisations of the indigenous peoples,

·   To take an active part in the development and the implementation of the Youth programme of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, to present and adopt at the IV Congress of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation,

·   To create a youth environmental network of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To distribute information on the state of environment in the residence territories of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East,

·   To develop and to implement the programmes of studies, preservation and distribution of traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples.


In order to implement the adopted decisions, the Conference has decided:


1.To establish a Youth Initiative Group on environmental affairs of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, with participation of:

1. Aleksandr Krivnogornitsyn (Kamchatskaya Oblast)

2. Vladislav Peskov (Nenets Autonomous Okrug)

3. Daria Kudriashova (Tomsk Oblast)

4. Sergey Novyukhov (Khanty-Manisiyskiy Autonomous Okrug)

5. Irina Shafrannik (Tomskaya Oblast)

6. Aleksandr Arbachkov (Kemerovskaya Oblast)

7. Tatyana Korzh (Khabarovskaya Oblast)

8. Nikolai Latyshev (Nenetskiy Autonomous Okrug)

9. Elena Nitkuk (Sakhalinskaya Oblast)

10.Irina Simanshuk (Primorskiy Kray)

11.Valeriya Ivanchenko (Baykitskiy Rayon, Krasnoyarskiy Kray)

12.Olesiya Lavsrishuk (Magadanskaya Oblast)

13.Alëna Petrovskaya (Chukotskiy Autonomous Okrug)


2.To give the Initiative Group the task to:

·   To organise work on the adopted programme and to control the implementation of the decisions in the Resolution;

·   To provide information on the undertaken actions through mass media and Internet, on a regular basis;

·   To draft and present a report on the implementation of the adopted programme and of the decisions in the Resolution of the Tomsk Conference, at the IV Congress of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East;

·   To present a Youth Programme with suggestions and amendments, at the IV Congress of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East;

·   To distribute information, the Resolution and the Programme of the Tomsk conference to the regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East through mass media and Internet.