Nenets life

Yamal, in the language of the indigenous Nenets who inhabit this land, means "the end of the world"; It is a remote, windswept place, characterized by permafrost, by lakes and rivers and is the land of reindeer breeders for over a thousand years.

Nenets herders move with their reindeer in search of food, moving along ancient migratory routes. In summer as in winter, when the temperature often reaches -50 ° C.

Today, migration routes are hampered by infrastructure associated with mining - especially gas; roads are difficult to cross for reindeer and pollution endangers the quality of food.

"Yamal Megaproject" of the mining companies started in the 1990s and today, 25 years later, millions of cubic meters of gas are channeled into Europe each year.

It is not the first time that the Nenets have to face the risk of extinction, but this time the mining and global warming that causes changes to the vegetation of the tundra are seriously threatening the inhabitants of this territory.

And Lida, an elderly Nenets woman, keeps telling me that reindeer is their life and their future.