Gas feeder lines at the Yamburg gas-condensate field. |
To the north of the main Siberian
oil fields, huge reserves of natural gas have been found in the
Yamal peninsula. This low-lying, marshy coastal area is rich in
birds and fish and is also the home of the Nenets, who herd their
reindeer there. For the winter, the Nenets drive their deer southwards
from the tundra to the shelter of the forests, away from the biting
winds of the tundra. For the spring, they bring them back towards
the calving grounds in the centre of the peninsula and for the summer,
to the northern coast where the sea breeze helps to protect them
from mosquitoes. The gas fields themselves lie under some of these
pastures, which would be destroyed by extracting the gas. In addition,
the proposed pipeline and its supporting railway would cut across
the reindeers' migration routes. Even without the damage to the
soil, their construction alone would make it impossible for reindeer
to move along the peninsula for at least ten years. |
View from a well pad (sand) towards a gas processing plant at the
Yamburg gas-condensate field. |
The reindeer herders who have no other
means of working and living, have already suffered a great deal
of anxiety. But they were comparatively fortunate that their problem
arose just as environmentalist pressure groups were becoming influential
in the Soviet Union. There was an outcry by conservationists, anthropologists
and others, and their heated debates with officials from the oil
and gas ministries were published in the national press. In 1989,
the pipeline was shelved for several years, though the problem will
probably reappear. Throughout Siberia, local councils are now trying
to insist that no industrial development should take place on their
land without their permission. They also feel that a fair share
of the profits should come back to the area, rather than being kept
in Moscow. They point out that much of the country's wealth is being
created on their territory while the local people continue to live
in great poverty. Similar demands are being made in other countries
of the North. |
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