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Coproduction of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge as a response to Global
Change in the Arctic: Case studies from Eurasian reindeer herding peoples
Marie Roué, Samuel Roturier, Alexandra Lavrillier, S. Gabyshev and D. Nakashima
Indigenous peoples across the Arctic and subarctic are confronted with the impacts of
climate change: shortened snow and ice seasons, increasingly unpredictable weather,
extreme events, animal species declines, invasive species, forest fires, new diseases and
parasites. These impacts are further exacerbated by global changes driven by regional,
national and international policies, as well as the expansion of extractive industries,
forestry and mega-energy development, accompanied by the growth of northern
settlements, transportation and related infrastructure.
In the face of these accelerating physical, biological and social transformations, there is a
need to monitor change, assess impacts and mobilize responses so as to adequately
inform adaptation policies and practice. At present, scientific data tend to focus on biophysical factors and broad spatial scales, but lack the societal components and human
dimension that Arctic communities require to guide adaptation. Individuals and
communities are already responding to change, but these efforts remain poorly
documented and understood.
There is a need to reinforce community-based and social science components as a
complement to the existing bio-physical monitoring capacities. By bringing together
natural and social scientists with indigenous peoples from across the circumpolar
region, collaborative indigenous-scientific work on global change impacts, monitoring
and adaptation can be advanced. The emerging paradigm of knowledge co-production is
attracting a great deal of interest in the framework of international debates not only
relating to climate change, but also biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. There
is a need to explore and define the knowledge co-production paradigm, its potential and
its limits, its opportunities and its risks, including in the framework of Arctic observing
systems.
The BRISK Project
Funded by the French National Research Agency for 4 years (2013-2016), the BRISK
project on ‘Bridging Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge about Global Change in the
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Arctic’ brings together indigenous peoples, climatologists, geographers, ecologists and
social anthropologists, in a collaborative effort involving the French National Centre for
Scientific Research, University of Versailles St Quentin, Agroparistech and UNESCO. Its
objective is to bridge gaps between the natural and social sciences, between science and
indigenous knowledge, and between the research community and policy-makers.
The project grounds its reflection in community-based observatories of social and
environmental change that are established with reindeer herding peoples: Sami in
Swedish Lapland and Evenk in Siberia. The observatories co-design methodologies to
monitor change through the direct engagement of indigenous community members with
natural and social scientists, and create the conditions for a fruitful co-production of
new knowledge rooted in both indigenous and scientific observations, understandings
and interpretations.
Focusing on the emerging paradigm of knowledge co-production, the BRISK project also
reaches out to similar interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary efforts from across the
Arctic, as well as elsewhere in the world, to better understand the opportunity created
through knowledge co-production, and the conditions necessary for its successful
emergence.
Case studies of co-production amongst Eurasian reindeer herding peoples:
the Evenk Observatory in Siberia
The Evenk community-based observatory is situated in one of the largest nomadic areas
of Russia that covers over 7 000 km2. Here some 15 000 reindeer are distributed
amongst 250 reindeer units with small herds of 40-100 animals. Hunting provides an
additional source of subsistence.
The Evenk have been noticing climate and environmental changes for decades, such as a
rise in winter and summer temperatures, high weather variability and unexpected
temperature jumps, as well as an increase in summer precipitation. During the last 5 to
10 years, these changes are observed to be accelerating. The coldest part of winter is
now two months shorter than it was 30 years ago, and the period of snow cover is also
much shorter. A single word sums up the main trend of weather change in local
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narratives: okollen (in Evenk) – ‘it’s getting hotter’. They link the warming with an
increase in forest fires and changes in flora and wild fauna - the disappearance of some
species and the appearance of others.
Fig. 1.
During the summer 2015,
because of the abnormal growth
of the wolf population, reindeer
herders have kept the herds
close to villages and towns.
©A. Lavrillier, 2015
Established in the winter of 2013 by the Evenk reindeer herder, S. Gabyshev, the
Russian meteorologist, L. Egorova and the French anthropologist, A. Lavrillier, the
protocols used in the Evenk observatory have been co-designed by herders,
climatologists, anthropologists and ethno-biologists. From 2013 to date, daily
observations are collected following criteria that combine indigenous and scientific
knowledge, including both social and environmental sciences. These daily observations
are complemented by data and analyses from joint fieldwork involving the Evenk and
the social anthropologist. They concern meteorological data such as temperature,
humidity, precipitation (including snow cover), wind variation, etc. as well as detailed
information about the presence and behavior of wild fauna and domestic reindeer.
Efforts are also being made to document Evenk knowledge of the local environment,
including through mapping land use, major travel routes and environmental change.
Joint analyses of atypical winters and summers as well as of events considered as
extreme by the Evenk reveal frequent anomalies in the seasonal evolution of snow and
ice cover, with observed linkages to changing vegetative cover, The occurrence and
nature of these anomalies are observed to vary with different topographies. These
changes are accompanied by socio-economic impacts to which the Evenk herders adapt
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through, amongst others, their high mobility and by modifying herding practices. These
efforts to adapt are today threatened by the local expansion of extractive industries.
Emerging results from Swedish Lapland
A community-based observatory established in Jokkmokk, northern Sweden, involves
Sami reindeer herders from the Sirges herding community, along with specialists in
anthropology, ecology and snow physics. Observations include a variety of data such as:
(i) quantitative climatic data from automatic weather stations and temperature probes
placed at a number of sites within the territory of the reindeer herding community; (ii)
qualitative data from Sami herders about local snow and grazing conditions using onsite surveys recorded in diaries and since 2015, a specially-programmed smartphone
app; (iii) cartographic data from Sami herders about winter land use patterns over the
last five years; and (iv) quantitative data about snow metamorphism at the regional
scale using remote-sensing and satellite imagery.
The collective work on this diversified data set by Sami reindeer herders and natural
and social scientists has resulted in a co-production of outcomes of which three
illustration are provided below:
1. Revising scales of analysis to better apprehend Sami adaptation strategies: The
national reindeer plan, developed at the level of the sameby (‘Sami village or
corporation’) and based primarily upon observations of the quality of lichen
pastures during the snow-free summer period, offered initially ill-adapted frames for
understanding adaptation strategies deployed by Sami herders. A new methodology
was developed by combining natural and social science perspectives with indigenous
Sami knowledge. It addressed land use by reindeer herders at the more fine-grained
scale of the siida, the relevant social unit for decision-making and focused on the
critical winter season. Mapping workshops with 10 siida (winter-groups) from some
four samebyar (‘villages’) of Jokkmokk, covering winter grazing conditions over
seven years (from 2005 to 2011), revealed the multi-factorial nature of Sami
strategies for adaptation to inclement environmental conditions. The mapping
recorded not only where reindeer grazing took place, siida by siida and month by
month, during seven consecutive winters, but also how grazing occurs and why
certain sequences of land use were deployed in the face of the ecological and social
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conditions of a particular winter season. Absolute abundance of lichen was not a
decisive factor, but rather the accessibility of lichen pastures under specific
conditions of weather and snow. This revised analysis, both with respect to the
designated social unit and spatio-temporal scales, offered a better understanding of
the adaptation strategies of reindeer herders and their resilience in the face of
change. It was also successfully applied in the context of a mining project - revealing
the threat to Sami resilience from reduced access to alternative winter pastures in
the Jokkmokk area.
Fig. 2.
Land use pattern for different winters
established during participatory mapping
workshop for a siida from Sirges herding
community
© Roue and Roturier
2. Bringing together scientific and indigenous data sets to ‘think more clearly’:
Juxtaposing the time-series data from temperature probes with on-site surveys
conducted throughout the winter by Sami herders laid the foundation for an in-depth
dialogue between scientists and indigenous herders. As expressed by a herder during
the workshop, it “forced us to think clearly about winter”. A particularly interesting
outcome was a renewed interpretation of the impact of weather conditions on snow
conditions that emerged from the joint examination of the temperature probe data.
During the winter of 2014, a rapid and intense wave of cold weather struck the area
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after a series of short and apparently harmless mild spells. The herders first thought
that the cold wave alone was responsible for the severe degradation of grazing
conditions. After examination of the probe data with scientists, however, the herders
opted for a more nuanced interpretation. In fact, the repeated mild spells melted and
moistened the snow to such an extent that the whole snow pack froze at once when
temperatures dropped to -35°C. The evolution of temperatures over this entire period
created much more severe conditions for their herds. In this case, scientific data did not
bring new knowledge per se, but created conditions for a deeper analysis of a critical
weather scenario.
Fig. 3.
Co-researcher MatsPeter Åstot from Sirges
herding community
installing temperature
probes in summer
grazing area
© S. Roturier
3. Efforts to quantify qualitative observations by Sami herders: The aforementioned
detailed mapping of Sami knowledge of conditions during seven winters (2005-2011)
looked in particular at the consequences of extreme thaw-refreezing events on reindeer
grazing. For this same area and time period, we tried to monitor changes in snow
conditions using remote-sensing technology and microwave signals in an effort to
quantify the impacts on the reindeer herding community. Interpretation of the
microwave signals was discussed and debated with Sami herders. Not surpringly,
however, the variety and complexity of factors taken into account by indigenous
knowledge when evaluating and assessing pasture conditions, proved to be extremely
difficult to capture through remote-sensing algorithms. Despite the limitations of the
scientific methods, the herders showed great interest to interpret themselves the raw
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remote-sensing data, an approach which holds considerable promise given their
thorough knowledge of topography, vegetation types, and reindeer behaviour.
Concluding remarks
What reindeer herders are facing in Russia, Sweden and Norway is an acceleration of
global changes over the last 30 years. While these changes and the associated loss of
autonomy began a few centuries ago with colonization, they have transformed the land,
rivers and the environment in general at a much higher rate since the beginning of the
twenties century. In Sweden, the early 20th century witnessed the beginning of
extractive industries, particularly mining and damming, as well as the segmentation of
the landscape due to a railway line which transported iron ore from Sami land to the sea
in Norway in order to export to other countries. Since the 1960s, forestry, which existed
earlier at a more sustainable rate, changed its methods to become industrial, replacing a
natural and diverse forest by tree plantations that require ploughing, planting and the
application of chemical fertilizers. All of these actions are highly detrimental to the
lichens, the key resource of winter grazing pastures for reindeer.
Today, with the cumulative impacts of environmental change, including climate change,
extractive industries and a lack of pastures due to roads, railroads and urbanization, is
adaptation still possible? Indigenous herders are worried, not because they lack
knowledge and capacity, but because resilience in the face of change is synonymous with
the freedom of movement of their herds. Today, State control is increasing and industry,
urbanization and even tourism are competing for land, while climate change brings
uncertainty and a heightened threat of extreme events. Grazing areas are being hemmed
in, eroding the adaptive capacity and resilience of northern herders.
Reference List
- Lavrillier A., 2013. Climate change among nomadic and settled Tungus of Siberia:
continuity and changes in economic and ritual relationships with the natural
environment, Polar Record, Vol. 49, issue 03, pp. 260-271.
- Roturier S. et Roué M., 2015. Le pâturage, c’est toute une science ! Savoirs écologiques
sur la neige et représentation samie du pâturage. Techniques et Culture 63, 92-109.
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