Conservation of Wild Reindeer Population as a Principal Component of Taimyr's Globally Significant Biodiversity

Project by: Leonid Baskin
Please note: Mr. Baskin is interested in getting active support and help for developing this project from all scientists interested in this area, region, topics, etc. To contact Mr. Baskin, please click on his name.

GEF Project Preparation and Development Facility (PDF)

Block A (PDF-A) Grant Proposal for developing a Medium-size GEF proposal in the Russian Federation’s Taimyr Peninsula

PART I – Eligibility

1. Project Name: Conservation of Wild Reindeer Population as a Principal Component of Taimyr's Globally Significant Biodiversity
2. GEF Implementing Agency: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
3. Country in which the Project will be implemented: Russian Federation (RF)
4. Country Eligibility: Russia ratified the CBD in May 1995
5. GEF Focal Area: Biodiversity
6. GEF Operational Program: OP #1 Arid and Semi-Arid Zone Ecosystems
7. Project Linkage to National Priorities, Action Plans, & Programs:

The project reflects Russia’s national priorities in conservation and development. Taimyr is a priority area for nature conservation and sustainable development in territories with extremely vulnerable Arctic ecosystems. The "National Environmental Action Plan" calls for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the productive landscape as well as in protected areas.

The RF has actively participated in and engaged the Program for the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). CAFF is one of four programs established to implement the "Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy" adopted in 1991 by eight Arctic countries (Russia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States). In the absence of a national biodiversity strategy and action plan for Russia, CAFF is an important indicator of Russia’s northern conservation priorities. In 1997, Russia and her CAFF partners developed a "Co-operative Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity in the Arctic Region," patterned largely on relevant provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Five objectives emerged from this and were endorsed by the Arctic Council in 1998 as a framework for future country-based activities: (1) monitoring of biological diversity; (2) conservation of genetic resources, species and their habitats; (3) establishment of protected areas; (4) conservation outside protected areas; and (5) integration of biodiversity conservation objectives into economic activities. These objectives reflect Russian conservation priorities and are inherent in the design of this medium-size project.

Deputy Chairman Amirkhan Amirkhanov, State Committee of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection (see Annex A for endorsement)

A Description of the Target Area

Any description of the Taimyr Peninsula is characterized by superlatives. The northern-most area in mainland Eurasia, the Taimyr is one of the largest block of unbroken tundra landscape (400,000 km²) in Eurasia. The Taimyr is home to approximately 1,000,000 wild reindeer -Eurasia’s largest population. The Peninsula’s vast wetlands serve as one of the northern-most endpoints for the East Atlantic Flyway and the Central Asian Flyway, providing crucial nesting habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds representing 200 species.

Biological diversity is manifested in the Taimyr in more ways than simply numbers of species. Biodiversity is also manifested in terms of unique populations and rare ecological processes. In this northern-most part of Eurasia, there is still room for the natural manifestation of large-scale ecological processes. Apart from the migrations of birdlife into and out of the Peninsula, the most evident of these processes is the seasonal migration of Eurasia’s largest population of wild reindeer as they follow a 1,400 km pathway northwards in the Spring and southwards in the Fall within the region itself. Their seasonal presence in different parts of the peninsula as part of this ancient migratory process has been revealed by many scientific investigations to be crucial to maintaining the web of life in the tundra ecosystem, including habitat heterogeneity, that is responsible for supporting the peninsula’s diversity of life. Consequently, these wild reindeer are considered by ecologists to be a "keystone" species in this northern arctic ecosystem and as such their conservation is crucial to the conservation of greater diverse web of life.

The severity of the arctic conditions in the Taimyr has meant that people have not settled here in large numbers. Most of the human population here live in the southern most reaches of the peninsula in the city of Norilsk (approximately 240,000 people), the largest city in the region and a mining and nickel smelting center in the southernmost reaches of the Taimyr; in Dudinka, the Okrug capital; and in a chain of towns situated along a highway and railway connecting Dudinka and Norilsk (it is in this area where the pipelines and other industrial communications are concentrated). The Taimyr has been home to indigenous peoples for many hundreds of years and is currently home to four groups: the Dolgans (5226 persons), the Nganasans (873 persons), the Nenetses (2679 persons), and the Enetses (143 persons).

Past and Current Baseline Activities

Russia has an extensive Federal legislation relevant to biodiversity conservation and management in the Arctic. Interdepartmental committees operate to deal with biodiversity, indigenous peoples’ interests and other large northern conservation issues. However, they are currently ineffective due to current government budgetary constraints and due to lack of enforcement capability.

Because of increased autonomy and financial independence of the Regions, local conservation activities, including the establishment of regional protected areas, have become increasingly important in recent years. Consultative planning and management mechanisms for biodiversity conservation between the federal government, regional and indigenous authorities, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders will need considerable strengthening if they are to be effective in developing a holistic approach to nature conservation in the Russian Arctic. For its biodiversity conservation efforts, Russia has relied heavily on the establishment of zapovedniks, national parks and other types of protected areas.

Peninsula as a whole:

Russia has long recognized the unique importance of the Taimyr Peninsula’s biological diversity. This has been supported by the establishment of three state reserves (zapovedniks), one federal and several regional nature protected areas (game reserves) within the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug. In recent years Russia’s largest protected area, the Great Arctic Reserve (4,200,000 ha), the Arctic section of Taimyr Reserve (350,000 ha) and the Severnaya Zemlya Federal Game Reserve (420,000 ha) were established there. The area of protected territories account for about 13% of the total land area in the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug. The development of new protected areas is still in progress, and within the WWF campaign "Living Planet" the Taimyr Governor G.P.Nedelin has promised to increase the share of protected territories up to 20% of the total area. In previous times, conservation work was very much science-oriented and intensive management oriented. Large scientific studies were carried out and even larger government-funded programs were implemented to try and maintain some kind of "balance" in Taimyr’s ecosystem. Clearly, the conservation paradigm in the Taimyr is shifting from an expensive, centralized, government-supported effort to "control" nature to a paradigm that emphasizes natures preeminent role in managing herself and seeks to conserve the natural ecological processes that sustain biodiversity in the Peninsula.

At the same time, the economic paradigm is shifting in the Taimyr. The peninsula is struggling to develop a new market-based economy in the aftermath of the collapsed, state-supported economy from the Soviet period. The peninsula’s few rural communities are comprised of indigenous people. These communities still seek alternative means of making a living after the rapid disappearance of Soviet-era domestic reindeer herding and other activities. The southern-most area of the Taimyr Peninsula is home to one of the world’s largest nickel production facilities. An agreement has been signed among the Government of Russia, the Taimyr Okrug, and the Shell Oil Company to begin oil exploration activities in the western edge of the Region.

In past Soviet times, indigenous peoples were stripped of their traditional livelihoods and forced to work in cooperative state-run reindeer farming and other enterprises. This has led to an unfortunate situation now where indigenous peoples find themselves in a sort of cultural and economic limbo, having been stripped of their traditional livelihoods and forcibly integrated into a social/economic system that no longer exists. The most realistic and desirable route expressed by indigenous leaders is for their people to return to their traditional way of life in the modern context of the 21^st century, similar to how arctic peoples are living in North America. This must happen soon, while their collective memory of their traditional way of life is still carried by their elders. In this traditional value system, the well-being and traditional lifestyles can be improved only as part of a more enlightened conservation and sustainable management approach to the Taimyr’s natural ecosystems.

Specific project area:

Nearly 862,000 km² in size, the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug is enormous. The medium-size GEF project to be developed under this Block A grant will focus on the central migratory corridor of the peninsula only (see map in Annex B). The corridor area contains a representation of some of Taimyr’s best dry and forest tundra plant communities as well as wildlife habitat. The corridor area where the project proposes to work stretches from wintering grounds for the reindeer in the south around the Putorana Nature Reserve, northwards to the middle of the peninsula in the Taimyrskii Nature Reserve and key calving grounds in this area, and finally to the summer feeding grounds on northern coast of the peninsula, including parts of the Bol’shoy Arcticheskii Zapovednik (Great Arctic Nature Reserve). The area has been chosen because of its importance not only wild reindeer migration, but also because it represents a strategic and characteristic cross-section of the various plant and animal communities that comprise the greater Taimyr arctic ecosystem for which reindeer are considered to be the keystone species.

There are only three small communities in the project area with a total population of 1,760 people, including members of the Nganasans and Dolgans indigenous groups. Most of these people live from hunting, trapping, fishing and some reindeer herding. The Soviet domestic reindeer breeding industry no longer exists. Other economic activities like collection of berries, eggs, and handicrafts are also of some importance. Currently, these people are not involved in any kind of cooperative effort with the protected areas to research and monitor wildlife and ecological conditions, or to management. Most of them live on social benefits.

These three protected areas, like most in Russia are staffed with some qualified, dedicated professionals who are experiencing very difficult times as a result of drastically reduced Government support. As a result, these protected areas are trying to understand how they can best evolve from their former management approach, one that was inward looking, theoretical and exclusive of local communities, to a new management approach that re-defines their mission, their methods and their relationship with the human communities and natural landscapes around them.

In addition, the existing protected area system is not aligned or managed to support a landscape-level biodiversity conservation and management regime. The three PAs are not managed in a way that emphasizes their important role in helping to maintain the ability of reindeer to migrate freely across the Taimyr landscape. They are not part of an overall landscape management framework designed to conserve the migratory process over the long term. They do not coordinate their management actions among themselves, nor is there any kind of cooperative monitoring program. Local communities (especially indigenous groups) are not included in any kind of co-management arrangement in these areas. And in fact, the SPA’s staff members are under-funded and under-trained in this respect, lacking the requisite skills and perspectives to be able to successfully work with local people in developing and implementing a landscape management plan for tundra grassland conservation. Indeed, in Russia to date, world experience and lessons learned in managing landscapes for significant populations of species and ecological processes, as well as for the sustainable livelihood of indigenous groups and local communities, has been used insufficiently.

Linkages with Other GEF Initiatives

UNEP – GRID Arendal is developing a GEF project that addresses ecosystem fragmentation issues in the whole of the Russian Arctic. The project, titled Integrated Ecosystem Approach to Conserve Biodiversity and Minimise Habitat Fragmentation in the Russian Arctic, is in the PDF B phase. UNDP and UNEP are working closely together to ensure that the two initiatives, the UNDP MSP and the future UNEP – GRID Arctic wide, full project, complement and support each other.

Current threats to Biodiversity

Even though the Taimyr system is not being degraded currently, the area is nevertheless under a number of threats. These are:

1. Landscape fragmentation and habitat destruction caused by roads, surface pipelines, and mining activities. Oil and gas development activities are especially intense in the western area of the Taimyr. For most of the peninsula, this is more of a potential threat then a clear and present threat.
2. The prospect of unsustainable and inappropriate exploitation of the peninsula’s natural resources;
3. Organized poaching (marginal, but persistent);

Root causes:

1. Lack of a landscape-scale biodiversity conservation framework to ensure conservation of important reindeer calving grounds and migratory pathways, and key bird nesting and molting refuges;
2. Lack of traditional livelihood options for indigenous people;
3. Insufficient legislation and policy framework at the Okrug level;
4. Inadequate local advocacy and support for the biodiversity of the Taimyr;
5. Lack of traditional livelihood knowledge among indigenous youth;
6. Lack of sufficient coordination among the protected areas, regional authorities, and private sector.

Rationale:

The most serious threats to biodiversity in the Taimyr are imminent future threats rather than existing ones. But if nothing is done to prevent and/or mitigate activities like inappropriate mining and oil/road development, they will ultimately threaten to fragment the landscape and destroy habitat across the entire peninsula both directly and indirectly by disrupting the keystone importance of wild reindeer migration . This situation calls for a preventative intervention to demonstrate how the Taimyr can maintain its unique biodiversity and landscape-scale ecological processes (reindeer and bird migrations).

Recognizing this need to balance conservation of the globally significant biodiversity with the sustainable development of the peninsula’s small human population, the Governor of the Autonomous Taimyr Okrug has pledged to increase to 20% that portion of the peninsula that is protected. This is a laudable and commendable goal, but what is currently lacking is a land and biodiversity management regime that (1) sufficiently involves local stakeholders & (2) is appropriate to the landscape scale ecological process of migrating reindeer.

10. A Description of Project Objective/Expected Outcomes (Purpose)/Activities to Achieve

Overall Objective:

The long-term objective of the project is to ensure the sustainable conservation of biodiversity of global significance in the Taimyr Peninsula.

Expected Outcomes-- Project Purpose: What change will the project have brought about?

By the end of the project, stakeholders will have expanded the conservation paradigm in the Taimyr from one being "protected area-centric" to a more integrated landscape approach involving protected areas and the productive landscape. More specifically:

• Stakeholders will be implementing a sustainable conservation and management regime for the central reindeer migratory corridor of the Taimyr Peninsula.
• Strengthened protected area management: The three protected areas will be managed in cooperation with local communities and in collaboration with each other on conserving the reindeer migratory processes so important to biodiversity in Taimyr.
• Indigenous people will be rehabilitating and maintaining their traditional activities;
• Landscape-level biodiversity conservation/land-use framework for the reindeer migratory corridor agreed upon by all stakeholders and adopted by the Okrug Administration;
• Effective targeted research and monitoring program to measure key indicators of ecosystem structure and function, including reindeer migration dynamics;
• A sustainable, low-input cooperative management regime for the migratory corridor comprised of Okrug officials, PA officials, academicians, indigenous peoples, NGOs, and other local resource users to sustainably conserve the biological diversity of the peninsula;
• Indigenous peoples will be actively maintaining their knowledge, innovation, and practices relevant to biodiversity conservation and will revive their traditional livelihoods in cooperation with a new co-management program with professional biodiversity managers.
• Increased technical capacity of local authorities and staff in charge of the reserve
• A strengthened legislative and economic framework in place providing local incentives for biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use;
• A sustainable funding mechanism for conservation in Taimyr supported by mineral and oil revenues generated in Taimyr area.
• Increased local awareness on biodiversity protection;

Planned Activities to Achieve Outcomes:

• Capacity building for protected area management: fine-tune and implement innovative management plan for the Pas that makes more allowance for the seasonal migration of reindeer and other animals;
• Conduct a modest targeted research and monitoring program to identify priority habitats and measure key indicators of ecosystem structure and function, and define the baseline biodiversity situation.
• Integrating biodiversity conservation and sustainable use objectives in land-use and natural resource-use management plans in relation to the reindeer herd;
• Develop an open, participatory management process in partnership with local stakeholders;
• Update and implement environmental education programs for key stakeholders in the Okrug;
• Enable indigenous people to actively maintain their knowledge, innovation, and practices relevant to biodiversity conservation, including sustainable use of reindeer;
• Reform the existing legal framework so as to support updated biodiversity conservation and development activities;
• Develop effective cooperative program with specially managed Arctic ecosystems in other parts of Eurasia and North America;
• Enable local stakeholders to develop alternative livelihoods. Introduce new conceptual and technological tools for conservation-based development in the Peninsula;
• Develop sustainable funding mechanism for conservation of the Taimyr ecosystem.

11. Stakeholders Involved in the Project:

Government Units

• Autonomous Okrug Government
• State Committee for Northern Territories,
• The State Committee for Environmental Protection
• Taimyr Regional Department of the State Committee for Environmental Protection,
• The Regional Land Committee
• Arctic Agriculture Research Institute,
• Moscow State University
• Institute for Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Private sector

• Local small business focusing on environmental practices
• Association of Indigenous Minorities of Taimyr
• All-Russia Reindeer Herders Union
• Private sector (Shell Oil, Norilsk Nickel Co. And Norilsk Gasprom Co.)

Local communities

• Local and regional communities
• Taimyr Branch of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North.
• Norilsk Ecological Fund
• Indigenous groups
• Professional communities and associations (teachers, scientists)

Part II – Information on PDF Activities

12-13. Expected Outputs and Completion Dates/Activities to be Financed by the PDF:

• preparatory consultations with national and regional administration and local stakeholders in the Peninsula (June 2000)
• Block A consultation/agreement on priority components of Medium size proposal/preliminary analysis of Incremental Cost (IC) Analysis (July 2000)
• Draft Medium-size proposal submitted for approval by GEF in October 2000.

• Studies and reports on flora and fauna
• Vegetation and habitat maps of the area (satellite images, political, topographic, etc.)
• Studies and reports on PA (management plans, development plans, etc.)
• Assessment of quality and relevance of existing maps/studies/reports and scientific data

• Threats to biodiversity and their root causes in the project site area;
• Problems encountered in management of biodiversity conservation areas;
• Possible solutions to these root causes and problems including awareness programs and institutional capacity building;
• Future development needs and options for sustainable alternative livelihoods;
• Determination of socio-economic and cultural impacts of current land use.

• Description of all major stakeholder issues
• Assessment of management framework in the priority area. What are the gaps & the needs?
• Assessment of socio-economic context (population, economy, culture, opportunities/constraints).
• Assessment of tribes, families, persons in terms of relations to use of natural resources; evaluation of readiness to participate in the Medium size Project;
• Assessment of the legal framework for biodiversity conservation
• Assessment of existing awareness and education baseline and how to encourage stakeholders to support biodiversity conservation.

• Develop recommendations for a land-use management framework in the corridor area (development of land use regulations taking in account interests of indigenous peoples

• An IC analysis to differentiate between baseline and incremental activities. PDF funds will be used to collect information on the baseline scenario, identify and cost incremental activities to conserve the wild reindeer population as the principle component of biodiversity, and develop complementary baseline and incremental activities.
• Confirmation of co-financing for project components not eligible for GEF funding.

• A summary of the global significance and unique biological and ecological attributes of the project site and the global benefits that would accrue from conservation intervention.
• Details of the biological, ecological, social and economic attributes of the sites
• A description of the threats to biodiversity and their root causes; and strategy for mitigating them.
• An description and quantification of the realistic baseline
• Identification of the sustainable development baseline (comprising additional activities required to address threats that may be justified in the domestic interest)
• Identification and justification of the incremental costs of activities needed to generate global conservation benefits, over and above the sustainable development baseline.
• Details of monitoring and evaluation measures
• Details of execution and implementation measures, with an accompanying organogram

• IC assessment describing global and domestic benefits, and justifying IC for each output
• Logical Framework Assessment, with quantifiable indicators to measure impact, a list of sources of verification, and an outline of the assumptions and risks that underpin the project
• Details of the biodiversity values of the project site, to supplement information in the Brief itself
• Assessment of the risks affecting project implementation and outline of mitigation measures
• Summary of the Stakeholder Assessment and Social Feasibility Study, defining the roles and responsibilities of different groups in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• Map of the project area
• List of reference materials

• Complete a plan of monitoring the reindeer population, concentrations of nesting and molting birds, denning places of wolf, arctic fox and bear with assistance of indigenous people (how to arrange monitoring points with a complex of living and communication facilities, moving groups of observers);

14. Possible Funding Partners for MSP & Amount:

• Canada

• CIDA

• Parks Canada

• Department of Indian and Northern Affairs

• Canadian Parliamentary Centre

• Netherlands
• Finland
• Germany

• Norilsk Nickel

16. Name:

The "Arctic Ring" Foundation (ARF) has submitted this project with the support of WWF Russia.

17. Date of Establishment, Membership, and Leadership:

ARF was established in March 1996. The organization is managed by a Director, currently Mr. Maxim Sinitsyn. Some of the members of ARF include the State Committee for the North, the Administration of Taimyr Autonomous Region, the Administration of Dickson, and approximately 10 private individuals. ARF is currently managing four biodiversity initiatives. Among other things, ARF established the Red Cross branch in Taimyr, organized and managed humanitarian support from the Netherlands for Dickson, provided Taimyr with access to NTV (one of Russia’s TV networks), and continues to organize support for Puturansky and the Great Arctic Reserve.

Membership: Institutions and private individuals

Leadership: Director: Dr. Maxim G. Sinitsyn

WWF as an international non-governmental environmental charity was officially established in 1961. WWF Russian Programme Office (WWF RPO) was opened in 1994. However, WWF’s active involvement in Russia started in late 80s with primarily projects in the Russian Arctic. Now WWF RPO runs about 80 projects in various region of the Russian Federation with the annual budget of about 6,000,000 USD. WWF RPO is supervised by the Russian Country Team, which currently serves as a Board and consists of members of major WWF National Organizations involved with the Russian Programme. WWF RPO is governed by the Director, currently Mr. Igor Chestin. Apart from the head office in Moscow WWF Russian Programme has offices in Vladivostok, Syktyvkar, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Ufa, Abakan and Pskov.

18. Mandate/Terms of Reference:

ARF is a national nature conservation NGO with offices in Moscow and Dudinka (Taimyr Autonomous Okrug). ARF’s mandate is the protection of specific nature territories and water area in Russian Arctic; the protection of rare Arctic species; the protection of Arctic cultural heritage; sustainable development in the Arctic. The Governor of Taimyr Autonomous Okrug entrusts ARF with the observing of nature conservation projects in the region.

WWF is the largest international wildlife conservation NGO, with 26 national programs and over 5 million individual supporters world-wide. In the Russian Federation, WWF’s mandate is the protection of rare species, strengthening of protected areas, and sustainable resource use.

19. Sources of Revenue:

Both organizations are supported by private contributions, bilateral funds, and by international environmental organizations and donor supported aid programs.

20. Recent Activities/Programs in Particular those Relevant to the GEF:

ARF:

• Taimyr’s involvement into "The Living Planet" WWF campaign;
• "Brekhovskiye Ostrova" (Brekhovski Isiands in the Enissey’s mouth) State Nature Reserve Project;
• Putoranski State Nature Reserve’s nomination into the World Heritage List;
• Taimyr Conservation Legislation Project.

WWF:

PART IV – Information on Implementing Agency

22. Implementing Agency Contact Person

Peter Newton, Environment Unit and UNDP/GEF Program Coordinator, UNDP Office, Moscow

(7095) 787-2102(Phone); (7095) 787-2100 (Fax)

Dr Christopher Briggs, RBEC/GEF Regional Coordinator (New York).

23. Project Linkage to Implementing Agency Programs

This project follows UNDP-Russia’s Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) prepared jointly by UNDP and the Government for the period 1997-2001. The CCF states conservation and sustainable use of environmental resources as one of its main priorities. . UNDP Russia targets regions of the Russian Federation that are experiencing the most difficulty during the transition process. This includes many of the Northern and Far East regions of the Federation.