Abstract
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia; RS(Y)) is located in the northeast of Siberia (Russia) in the basins of the Lena, Yana, and Indigirka rivers, in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River. Yakutia is an industrial–agrarian republic with a developed mining, fuel, and energy industry. Indigenous peoples live mainly in the Arctic regions, where the large-scale development of mineral resources is planned, and South Yakutia, where the mining industry is well developed. The aim of this study is the development of methodological approaches to assessing the impact of the mining industry on the natural environment and the social sphere in the places of residence and traditional economic activities of the indigenous peoples of the North. We used the results of research work (R&D), materials of expeditionary work, and regulatory documents of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Russian Federation (RF). The state of the environment (ES) was assessed on the basis of the analysis of indicators for three areas: (a) anthropogenic load, (b) environmental and social consequences, and (c) resistance of natural complexes to technogenic impacts. In total, 22 indicators were used for the 3 areas, for example, population density, person/km2; the volume of extraction of rock mass, million m3; and emissions, t/year. To bring dissimilar indicators into comparable ones, we used a methodological approach with the use of the social risk index (SRI). In Arctic regions (mainly agricultural), the ES is in a favorable and relatively favorable state: SRI 0.61–0.70; in the central regions (mainly agricultural), it is satisfactory and relatively satisfactory: SRI 0.71–1.0; in the southern and western regions with a developed mining industry, it is relatively tense and tense: SRI 1.01–3.0. An extremely tense state of environmental conditions has developed in the city of Yakutsk: SRI ≥ 3. Generally, the deterioration of the environmental situation and vital activity of the indigenous peoples in investigated Arctic region correlated with the impact of the mining industry.
Highlights
In the settlement and economic development of Arctic regions of Russia, indigenous peoples undoubtedly had the first experience
The concept of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian Federation is given in Federal Law (FL) On Guarantees of the Rights of Small-Numbered Peoples of the Russian Federation no. 82 dated 30 April 1999 [1]: indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian Federation are peoples living on the territories of traditional settlement of their ancestors, preserving the traditional way of life, management, and crafts, numbering fewer than 50 thousand people in the Russian Federation, and realizing themselves as independent ethnic communities
In the context of the industrial development of the natural resources of the Russian Federation, the creation of the traditional natural resource use (TTNRU) plays an important role in protecting the interests and rights of indigenous peoples: on the one hand, it is a deterrent for the destruction of their original habitat; on the other hand, it stimulates socioeconomic development and an increase in the standard of living of associations of indigenous peoples [4]
Summary
In the settlement and economic development of Arctic regions of Russia, indigenous peoples undoubtedly had the first experience. According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, on the basis of appeals of the peoples of the North, the authorities form territories of traditional natural resource use (TTNRU), which are specially protected territories formed for traditional nature management by the peoples of the North, where activities of industrial companies are limited and only possible with the prior and informed consent of the aborigines [3]. In the context of the industrial development of the natural resources of the Russian Federation, the creation of the TTNRU plays an important role in protecting the interests and rights of indigenous peoples: on the one hand, it is a deterrent for the destruction of their original habitat; on the other hand, it stimulates socioeconomic development and an increase in the standard of living of associations of indigenous peoples [4]. With the emergence of the mining industry, environmental problems in the republic move to the territory of its development. Environmental problems are associated with large-scale disturbance of Earth’s surface, environmental pollution, mainly of water bodies, for example, the rivers of Vilyuy, Daldyn, Malaya Botuobiya, Adycha, Allah-Yun, Seligdar, and Khroma, and an increase in ecological diseases [5]
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