The grant programme of Vostsibneftegaz (an enterprise of Rosneft) turned 10 years old. In honour of the anniversary date, the company held a competition and allocated new grants to scientists to support environmental and ethnographic projects in the Evenkia of Krasnoyarsk Region.

Evenkia is an area inhabited by indigenous peoples of the North — the Evenks, Keto, Yakuts, Dolgans and Evens. More than half of Evenkia’s indigenous population are engaged in hunting, fishing and reindeer herding in the Baikitsky district, including the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye field. Vostsibneftegaz pays special attention to the development of social partnership with the minor ethnic groups living on this land.

During the period of the Vostsibneftegaz grant programme about 30 projects have been implemented. All of them contribute to solving issues of importance for the territory of the indigenous minorities of the North: development of scientific knowledge about the territory, preservation of biological diversity and support of the traditional way of life of the local population.

The company’s flagship project, Evenki Deer, which is implemented in cooperation with the Siberian Federal University (SFU), is widely known. As part of the project, scientists have been tracking the movements, numbers, and habitation patterns of wild reindeer, a bioindicator species of the Arctic zone, for many years. For people who have settled on the vast expanse of the Siberian tundra and taiga, the reindeer is the most important part of their everyday life, culture and way of life.

The action of the Vostsibneftegaz grant programme is ongoing. Thanks to the support of the enterprise, a set of new teaching materials for the Evenki language will be developed in 2024. SFU researchers will conduct field research and develop the most effective ways of studying Evenki language and culture for students at boarding schools and remote settlements in Evenkia. Specialists will create a set of training materials using digital online and internet technologies and will test the materials.

The book “Evenkia from A to Z”, the monograph “New Projects for the Revival of Evenki Language and Culture”, “Red List of Evenkia”, and materials for the audio library of local speech have been previously published with the support of VSNK. One of the collaborative projects is a manual for schoolchildren to study the culture and language of the unique Keto nation.

Vostsibneftegaz also supports research on musk deer, a small reindeer-like animal that is rare in Evenkia. Their secretive lifestyle makes them almost invisible. During 2024, ecologists are going to analyse satellite imagery data, investigate possible animal habitats, and install new camera traps on the right bank of the upper reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. It is expected that based on the results of the study, scientists will identify new habitats for musk deer in Evenkia.

The third area of grant support will be the updating of data on rare species of birds and animals in Evenkia, which will be carried out by specialists from the Institute of Ecology and Geography of SFU. Evenkia is a unique territory, home to more than 30% of the endangered species of the Krasnoyarsk Region. Scientists will receive information on the population status, habitat and distribution conditions, limiting factors of rare and endangered birds and animals. The work will result in up-to-date lists of rare animal species, as well as maps of their habitats. Specialists will also develop additional recommendations and proposals for the conservation of Evenkia’s biodiversity.

Rosneft
Information and Advertising Department
March 5, 2024

Keywords: Environmental news 2024