|
Republic of Yakutia (Sakha)
"The Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) is situated in northeastern Siberia, stretches to the Henrietta Islands in the far north and is washed by the Arctic Ocean (Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas). These waters, the coldest and iciest of all seas in the northern hemisphere, are covered by ice for 9-10 months of the year. The Stanovoy Ridge borders Yakutia in the south, the upper reaches of the Olenyok river form the western border, and Chukotka forms the eastern border."
"Winter is prolonged and severe, with average January temperatures about -40C. Summer is short but warm; average temperatures have reached 18C in Yakutsk. In the northeast, the town of Verekhoyansk, the temperature reaches -70C and is considered the most uninhabitable place on the Earth."
"The Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) is the traditional homeland of the Yakut people who today represent about one-third of the population. When the Russians arrived at the end of the 16th century, the Yakuts had settled in the Lena River valley and had smaller settlements along the head waters of the Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma Rivers. While their traditional way of life continues to center around reindeer herding, cattle and horse raising (Yakut means "horse people"), hunting and fishing, most Yakuts today are urban dwellers and live much like other Russians." "Reindeer herders are nomadic and have no formal hierarchy. Hunters and fishers live in permanent settlements or wander within a limited territory on a seasonal basis. Other indigenous people who live in Yakutia include Eveni, Evenki, Dolgane, Chukchi and Yukaghiri. Like Yakuts, they herd reindeer and hunt and fish." "Under Soviet collectivization, nomadic herders were organized into work units, so that their reindeer herding followed an official plan. To reach production quotas, communist officials forced the herders to overgraze the land. The overgrazing led to a rapid decline in the productivity of the pastures and hit the reindeer industry hard. There are still over 400,000 reindeer herders today but good grazing land is declining." "Horse herding is still a strong tradition. Yakut horses, very hardy animals, can survive the winters on natural pastures without being fed by humans. 190,000 still roam the lichen and moss fields. Cattle are also bred, but their numbers are at an all time low. Work to regenerate the herds is taking place on farms in the Even-Bytyntaiskiy district and in Central Yakutia." "Hunting and fishing are not being done sustainably. Over fishing of rivers and over hunting of roe deer, chubak (a species of snow sheep) and other commercial species have led to a drastic decline in populations. Again, as with the collectivization of reindeer herds, the decline is mainly due to the restructuring and reorientation during the Soviet period. "At least eight major villages in southern Yakutia continue to retain their traditional way of life. They include the Eveni villages: Topolino, Berezovka, Sebyan-Kel' and Olotung. Other villages include: Iengra (Evenki), Nenemnoe (Yukagiri), Andriushkino (Chukchi) and Iuriuts-Khaya (Dolgane)."
"Forty percent of Yakutia lies within the Arctic Circle and all of it is covered by eternally frozen ground - permafrost - which greatly influences the region's ecology and limits forests in the southern region. Yakutia can be divided into three great vegetation belts." Arctic and subarctic tundra define the middle region, where lichen and moss grow as great green carpets and are favorite pastures for reindeer." "In the southern part of the tundra belt, scattered stands of dwarf Siberian pine and larch grow along the rivers. Below the tundra is the vast taiga forest region. Larch trees dominate in the north and, in the south, stands of fir and pine begin to appear. Taiga forests cover about 47% of Yakutia and almost 90% of this cover is larch." "The great Lena watershed begins in the steep mountains that border the western shores of Lake Baikal. Then the river meanders northeast and is joined by the Vitim River, followed by the Olyokma, Aldan, Aniga and Vilui Rivers before flowing out of a wide delta and into the Arctic Ocean. It spreads through Yakutia like a huge pitchfork and, with its tributaries forms the great river network that supports the immense region's ecology. The Lena is over 4,000 km long and the entire basin is 2,500 sq.km." "Yakutia's greatest mountain range, the Verkhoyansk, runs parallel and east of the Lena river, forming a great arc that begins the Sea of Ohotsk and ends in the Lappet Sea (Arctic Ocean). This great range has hundreds of small tributaries which flow into the Lena as it moves northward. The Cherkyi range runs east of the Verkhoyansk and has the highest peak in Yakutia, Peak Pobeda (5,147 m). Even further east are the gold rich Kolyma Mountains, which stretch all the way to Chukotka." "Geographically, Yakutia is very old, particularly in the west which is one of the most ancient portions of the earth's crust and source of Yakutia's massive diamond reserves. The region's complex and diverse geological structures are extremely rich in minerals and are well known through Russia for gold deposits in the Aldan, Indiguirka and Yana river basins, tin in the northeast and natural gas and oil in the Vitui basin."
"Polar bears den and hunt in Arctic regions near the Henrietta Islands. Each year over 50,000 geese migrate to the wetlands between the Yana and Kolyma Rivers and 200,000 to 300,000 ducks migrate to the region between the Kolyma and Alezeya rivers." "White Siberian cranes, Canadian cranes, Ross's gulls, geese and other waterfowl nest on the left bank of the Khroma River and along the lower Indigirka and Aleezeya rivers. Over half of the Yakutia Bewick swans nest between the Kolyma and Konkovaya rivers. Sandhill cranes, elder and other waterfowl nest here also. Little curlews, hooded cranes and black storks nest between the Lena and Kolyma Rivers. In total there are 28 species of mammal, 285 species of bird, 43 of fish and around 4,000 insect species."*
Through Khabarovsk on Aeroflot
Ornithology, Wild Life, Indigenous villages, Lena River cruises can be booked through Far East Development
Entire section was quoted from The Russian Far East; Forests, Biodiversity Hotspots, and Industrial Development by Josh Newell and Emma Wilson, published by Friends of the East, Japan
World Wise Ecotourism Network, © 2000 Far East Development |
