ENTRY DESCRIPTION
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.
The Yamal Peninsula: a stretch of peatland that extends from northern Siberia into the Kara Sea, far above the Arctic Circle. 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.
The Nenets eat fish such as white salmon and muksun, a silvery-coloured whitefish and gather mountain cranberry during the summer months. Reindeer meat is also the most important part of the Nenets’ diet. It is eaten raw, frozen or boiled, together with the blood of a freshly slaughtered reindeer, which is rich in vitamins. Every Nenets has a sacred reindeer, which must not be harnessed or slaughtered until it is no longer able to walk.

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