Geographical variability and cultural diversity of reindeer pastoralism in northern Russia: delimitation of areas with different types of reindeer husbandry

Abstract

Traditional reindeer husbandry in Russia is a fascinating phenomenon of northern pastoralism and nomadism. Russia is home to over two-thirds of the world’s total domesticated reindeer herd. Reindeer husbandry in Russia is practised by 15 indigenous peoples, some of whom still pursue a nomadic lifestyle. The purpose of this article is to visualise reindeer husbandry, together with its hosting biophysical and social environment, as a socio-ecological system or a reindeer pastoralist landscape, and to present its diversity as a geographical system of landscape zones and regions. Such a holistic landscape approach is rooted in the landscape ecology and reflects the basic patterns of reindeer husbandry’s connections with its surroundings. The research includes 3 stages. We started by dividing the entire reindeer husbandry area of the Russian North into several landscape zones focusing on the predominant migration patterns of reindeer herders, as such patterns reflect the interaction of reindeer husbandry with the geographical environment as a whole. The next stage was zoning by cultural types of reindeer husbandry. In the final stage, we divided the particular reindeer husbandry areas into smaller regions according to the local features of reindeer pastoralism. The research has resulted in a map of traditional reindeer husbandry landscape zoning. This map embraces the whole territory of Russia where traditional reindeer husbandry still exists and comprises 35 units (reindeer pastoralist landscapes) related to four taxonomic levels. The present zoning scheme of Russian reindeer husbandry is, on the one hand, a result but, on the other hand, a tool for further research on reindeer pastoralism within a holistic landscape ecology approach.