FAO and Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and the Far East: support and cooperation

On 29 March 2022, a meeting was held at the FAO Moscow Office between Oleg Kobiakov, the Office Director, and Alexander Noviukhov, Member of the Federation Council from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (KhMAA), First Vice-President of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).

During the conversation, points of common ground were identified and ways to develop the cooperation between these two organizations were discussed. FAO has a strong focus on Indigenous Peoples that are a cross-cutting theme for its mandate in agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, as well as in food systems and rural development. On the other hand, these issues are in RAIPON’s spotlight, which advances Indigenous Peoples’ rights before local, regional, and federal authorities and represents them in such international formats as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Arctic Council.

The parties agreed to work closely together on indigenous fisheries, especially given that this year has been declared the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. This work is expected to be carried out in close contact with the Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo), the public council of which includes a representative of Indigenous Peoples, and with the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), which coordinates the activities of the Year in Russia.

Environmental cooperation within the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and within the emerging Russian National Committee on the Decade was identified as promising, as well as cooperation on food systems of Indigenous Peoples and in the preparation of Russian nominations for Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), of which tundra reindeer husbandry could be rightfully placed among the first.

FAO noted that the Organization focuses in its legislative work on ensuring the rights of Indigenous Peoples regarding access to adequate food, to productive resources such as land, forests, fisheries, and water (the list of publications is to be found below under “Background information”).

Oleg Kobiakov and Alexander Noviukhov agreed to organize joint research, seminars, symposia, and conferences on these topics. Among the first planned practical steps would be the alignment of the Russian “IT-nomad camp” Programme and the FAO’s “1 000 Digital Villages” Global Initiative.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

FAO Flagship Publications on Indigenous Peoples