Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests

Creation of protected areas in the Arctic has been an important element of protection of valuable ecological systems. It is particularly important when nature conservation priorities match the efforts for preservation of indigenous people lifestyles. Combination of both is problematic when industria...

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Main Authors: Pristupa, A.O., Tysyachnyouk, M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/information-as-legitimacy-broker-in-zoning-efforts-in-the-numto-n
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spelling ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/507486 2024-06-23T07:50:20+00:00 Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests Pristupa, A.O. Tysyachnyouk, M. 2016 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/information-as-legitimacy-broker-in-zoning-efforts-in-the-numto-n en eng https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/information-as-legitimacy-broker-in-zoning-efforts-in-the-numto-n Wageningen University & Research Life Science Article in monograph or in proceedings 2016 ftunivwagenin 2024-05-29T14:26:28Z Creation of protected areas in the Arctic has been an important element of protection of valuable ecological systems. It is particularly important when nature conservation priorities match the efforts for preservation of indigenous people lifestyles. Combination of both is problematic when industrial activities, such as oil extraction, arrive to such areas. This paper presents the case of the Numto natural park in the oil-rich Russian Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug situated in the subarctic climate. The park was created in the late 1990s to preserve the unique region with high ecological, historical and ethnographic value, as well as to protect the habitat and reindeer herding activities of indigenous Nenets peoples. Shortly after the creation of the park different claims were put on various use of nature area. Original zoning of the park has been challenged by the ongoing operations of the oil company, Surgutneftegas, that has undertaken attempts to rezone the park areas in order to accommodate expanding oil actives. The most recent zoning attempt endorsed by the oil company in 2014-2015 has involved researchers from different Russian regions that introduced “wise use” principle pioneered by the Ramsar Convention. Next to valuation and mapping of ecologically valuable areas by natural scientists, social scientists were involved for charting socio-economic and cultural properties of the lands used by the indigenous population. The case employs informational governance framework to analyse how and to what extent zoning, as an informational tool, accommodates different priorities and claims. Through the literature analysis, interviews with the stakeholders and surveys, this study concludes that zoning is used to legitimize practices driven by the vested interests. It does not necessarily lead to more sustainability, but rather serves as an additional leverage for powerful actors to exercise authority over other engaged stakeholders. However, inclusion of wide variety of parties and application of the best ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic khanty khanty-mansi nenets Subarctic Mansi Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Arctic
institution Open Polar
collection Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library
op_collection_id ftunivwagenin
language English
topic Life Science
spellingShingle Life Science
Pristupa, A.O.
Tysyachnyouk, M.
Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
topic_facet Life Science
description Creation of protected areas in the Arctic has been an important element of protection of valuable ecological systems. It is particularly important when nature conservation priorities match the efforts for preservation of indigenous people lifestyles. Combination of both is problematic when industrial activities, such as oil extraction, arrive to such areas. This paper presents the case of the Numto natural park in the oil-rich Russian Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug situated in the subarctic climate. The park was created in the late 1990s to preserve the unique region with high ecological, historical and ethnographic value, as well as to protect the habitat and reindeer herding activities of indigenous Nenets peoples. Shortly after the creation of the park different claims were put on various use of nature area. Original zoning of the park has been challenged by the ongoing operations of the oil company, Surgutneftegas, that has undertaken attempts to rezone the park areas in order to accommodate expanding oil actives. The most recent zoning attempt endorsed by the oil company in 2014-2015 has involved researchers from different Russian regions that introduced “wise use” principle pioneered by the Ramsar Convention. Next to valuation and mapping of ecologically valuable areas by natural scientists, social scientists were involved for charting socio-economic and cultural properties of the lands used by the indigenous population. The case employs informational governance framework to analyse how and to what extent zoning, as an informational tool, accommodates different priorities and claims. Through the literature analysis, interviews with the stakeholders and surveys, this study concludes that zoning is used to legitimize practices driven by the vested interests. It does not necessarily lead to more sustainability, but rather serves as an additional leverage for powerful actors to exercise authority over other engaged stakeholders. However, inclusion of wide variety of parties and application of the best ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Pristupa, A.O.
Tysyachnyouk, M.
author_facet Pristupa, A.O.
Tysyachnyouk, M.
author_sort Pristupa, A.O.
title Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
title_short Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
title_full Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
title_fullStr Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
title_full_unstemmed Information as Legitimacy Broker in Zoning Efforts in the Numto Natural Park in the Russian Arctic: Planning for Sustainability Versus Vested Interests
title_sort information as legitimacy broker in zoning efforts in the numto natural park in the russian arctic: planning for sustainability versus vested interests
publishDate 2016
url https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/information-as-legitimacy-broker-in-zoning-efforts-in-the-numto-n
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
khanty
khanty-mansi
nenets
Subarctic
Mansi
genre_facet Arctic
khanty
khanty-mansi
nenets
Subarctic
Mansi
op_relation https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/information-as-legitimacy-broker-in-zoning-efforts-in-the-numto-n
op_rights Wageningen University & Research
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