TOMSK, Nov 27 – RIA Tomsk. The indigenous peoples of northern Norway, in particular the Sami,
joined the SecNet research network, created under the auspices of Tomsk State University (TSU); Norwegian Arctic natives will participate in climatologist
research aimed at studying the problems of global climate change, the press
service of the university said on Wednesday.
It is explained that the SecNet international research
network was created within the framework of the Trans-Siberian Scientific Way
(TSSW) Institute of TSU as a tool for studying Siberia and the Arctic. It
includes leading institutions of Russia, Great Britain, Norway, the USA, and
Canada. The SecNet partners include Iteract II, the University of the Arctic,
the American National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), and the Canadian
mountain station network.
"The small indigenous peoples of Northern Norway
have joined the SecNet network, created under the auspices of TSU. <...>
Representatives of small peoples (Norway) are ready to participate in the
research of scientists in the hope that the results will draw the attention of
the authorities to their problems", – is said in the message.
According to the director of the Center for
International Cooperation at TSU, the coordinator of SecNet, Olga Shaduyko,
quoted by the press service, Norwegian Sami are increasingly faced with
problems caused by global climate transformation. In particular, reindeer
herders note that winters are getting warmer, snow falls later than usual. As a
result, reindeer lichen, the mainstay of the reindeer diet, suffers. It is
becoming increasingly difficult to feed the herd.
"Norwegian Sami also suffer from another problem – the
active development of Arctic tourism. Dozens of people who are there for
several days come to the north, ride snowmobiles, hunt, fish, but do not invest
in the development of the territory at the same time. They move along the
tracks of deer migrations, scare them with loud noises, leave a lot of garbage
after themselves", – adds Shaduyko.
Norwegian Sami are ready to conduct observations and
take readings at weather stations. According to scientists – SecNet partners,
aborigines are able to notice something that expedition members may simply not
notice. Also, with the filing of the indigenous population, ideas for new
projects are born. SecNet, Sami representatives and Luleå University of
Technology (Norway) have submitted a joint application for a Nordic grant.