The Fifth Arctic Leaders Summit organized by the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) in Moscow was brought to a successful conclusion with the attending Arctic Indigenous leaders' signing of the ALS V declaration.

Indigenous leaders representing the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), RAIPON, and the Saami Council signed a declaration on what had been the overarching theme of the ALS V, "Industrial development of the Arctic under climate change - new challenges for indigenous peoples."

The final of the two day summit had centered on climate change and its impacts on and challenges for Artic communities. Among others, Lars Moller, the Danish Arctic Council Chair, Vladimir Kattsov, director of a federal Russian geophysical and meteorological agency, and Mikhail Pogodaev of the Association of World Reindeer Herders gave presentations on this theme as seen from the perspective of their respective organizations.

All of the attending Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council, likewise, took the opportunity to make presentations on themes relating to climate change challenges. Among them, Cindy Dickson of the AAC, to an accompaniment of a splendid photo slide show, spoke about resilience aspects of indigenous peoples' living on the land and their right to continue to do so, to seek well-being and livelihood from doing so, as they had since time immemorial.

Civil society organizations like the WWF were also attending the summit. WWF Russia representative Victoria Elias took the floor to present a recently launched project on Rapid Assessment of Circum-Arctic Ecosystem Resilience (RACER) that aims at identifying and assessing eco-regional units and aspects of resilience as well as vulnerability with particular regard to Arctic communities.

James Stotts, International Chair of ICC, in response to the WWF presentation, asked Ms. Elias if she could provide a lead as to an official stance of her organization regarding the rights of indigenous peoples to harvest resources to sustain their livelihoods.

Ms. Elias, in response, admitted that the WWF is indeed a big organization giving many, and not necessarily aligned, messages to the world. However, she would maintain that the WWF do have an official policy with respect to indigenous peoples rights to sustainable use of nature, and that, basically, WWF considers itself to be on the same side as indigenous peoples.

The ALS V is scheduled back-to-back with the 20th anniversary of RAIPON as well as the opening of the EXPO 2010 headlined "Treasure of the North" in the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. A report on the RAIPON anniversary as well as a link to the ALS V declaration to be published on this site shortly.

Canada has announced that it will host a high-level meeting to discuss the future of economic development and environmental protection in nations bordering the Arctic Ocean in Chelsea, Quebec on March 29, 2010.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Laurence Cannon described the upcoming gathering as a means to "provide an opportunity for Arctic Ocean coastal states to prepare for and encourage development that has positive benefits, including economical and environmental. It will reinforce ongoing collaboration in the region, including in the Arctic Council."

Minister Cannon has invited his counterparts from the five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean to the summit, but has received harsh criticism for excluding representatives from Arctic Indigenous organizations, particularly the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC).

AAC International Chair Bill Erasmus responded to Minister Cannon's exclusion saying: "We don't see how the minister can discuss 'responsible development' in the Arctic with his counterparts from the United States, Russia, Denmark/Greenland and Norway without representatives of northern Canada."

Pointing out that AAC and five other Arctic Indigenous Peoples organizations are permanent participants to the eight nation Arctic Council Mr. Erasmus said "It makes no sense for us to be included in the Arctic Council but excluded in meetings of the five Arctic Ocean states".

Erasmus commented that Minister Cannon has billed the summit as a chance to "reinforce ongoing collaboration in the region, including in the Arctic Council," to which Erasmus added: "We invite the Minister to tell us how this will be achieved when we are not even in the room."

 

ICC Canada president Duane Smith also released a statement urging Cannon to include indigenous representatives at the summit "because Inuit are a coastal people, because the summit is about the Arctic Ocean coast, because Mr. Cannon underlined the importance of our involvement in multilateral meetings outside the Arctic Council."

Some have raised concerns that this so-called A-5 meeting, paired with the May, 2008 Illulissat meeting signals a disturbing trend that could weaken the Arctic Council as a high-level forum dealing with Circumpolar issues.

Gunn-Britt Retter of the Saami Parliament in Norway said: "It's our concern that we see some of the states involved in the Arctic Council now ... move the discussions out of the Arctic Council and to create kind of separate bodies."

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Link: Canadian Chair's summary

by Clive Tesar Arctic Indigenous Peoples are engaging in two processes this week to advance climate change action. In Svolvaer, Norway, the Arctic Council meeting is considering future action including a study of materials that contribute to climate change that are not carbon dioxide. These other materials include soot, ozone, and methane. Meanwhile, other Arctic Leaders are attending a meeting of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues. This week, the forum is focusing on climate change issues. Speaking on behalf of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the Saami Council, Patricia Cochran told the Forum: "It is clear that in future COPs, the plight of Indigenous Peoples will not be addressed if they are not at the table and not involved in the decision-making. We call upon the United Nations to open the door to indigenous peoples in all matters affecting climate change." Ms. Cochran highlighted three recommendations to the Permanent Forum, and through the Permanent Forum to the wider UN community:

1. each UN agency that works on climate change matters should develop a special Arctic focal point for climate change;
2. the UNFCCC should develop a seat at the negotiating table specifically dedicated to Indigenous Peoples, in which we would have direct access to decision-makers and where we would be able to offer our knowledge in constructive ways;
3. All UN member states and agencies should include in their climate change strategies a screening mechanism that evaluates the impacts of mitigation measures themselves on Indigenous Peoples.

Back in Svolvaer, the indigenous leaders at the Arctic Council called on the Arctic states to adopt and promote these recommendations in dealing with United Nations processes. They also urged the Arctic states to ensure that the increasingly worrying projections for the Arctic climate are central to ongoing United Nations consideration of global action on climate change.

Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat in collaboration with Elonmerkki and the Saami Council are proud to announce that the documentary "Last Yoik in Saami Forests?" now is available on DVD and for download. The DVDs will be distributed to interested Universities in the Arctic Region and/or with a special interest in Arctic Indigenous Issues. To get a copy for use at your University, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and specify the format (NTSC for North America, PAL for Europe/Russia). For individual requests for a copy of the DVD we ask you to contact the producer at www.elonmerkki.net. If you just want to see it online, and maybe download a compressed copy of it for your iPod, continue reading... [googlevideo]89418168905535551[/googlevideo] Download as mp4 (iPod Format). Download A3 Poster.

by Clive Tesar An influential audience of Arctic diplomats, Indigenous Leaders, and NGOs was treated to a viewing of the new Saami film “Last Yoik in Saami Forests?”. The film was screened at a meeting of the Arctic Council in Narvik, Norway, in Saami traditional territory. It chronicles clashes between Saami reindeer herders, determined to preserve their traditional economy and culture, and the forestry company that threatens them. The activities of the Finnish state forestry company in the Inari region of Finland have reached the point where centuries-old Saami reindeer herding activities are at the point of collapse. The logging company operating in the region, supported by the Finnish government, has been cutting down old growth forests that provide critical habitat and forage for reindeer. This is despite an ongoing process to settle Saami land rights in the region. Local Saami have become so concerned with the situation that they set up a camp, together with some NGOs, to try to put an end to the unsustainable logging. This has resulted in threats and harassment of reindeer herders by forestry company employees, and some other people in the area. Some of this harassment is shown in the film. Negotiations between the reindeer herders and the forestry company have failed, Pauliina Feodoroff, President of the Saami Council says it is time for the Finnish government to step in.

“Saami Council appeals to the new Government of Finland to redeem its promises to the Saami People, and to the international community, to take responsibility and solve the forestry conflicts. Saami Council demands that the logging must be immediately terminated and that ceased negotiations are restarted.”