Tuva Sets Sights On Sustainable Development

by Brian Donahoe

"Whatever happened to Tannu Tuva?" Those simple words, uttered in 1977 by the late Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman, have been emblazoned on T-shirts and bumper stickers and otherwise immortalized by the organization Feynman inspired, The Friends of Tuva. Feynman's question is even more compelling now than it was in 1977, as Tuva struggles to redefine itself in the new post-Soviet order.

Tuva (the "Tannu," which means "mountainous taiga," was dropped in 1926), is a republic of the Russian Federation in south-central Siberia, with a population of 310,000 in a territory about the size of the state of Washington. After a short-lived run as an independent state from 1921-1944, Tuva was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1944, the final addition to the Soviet territory, and the last of four independent countries swallowed up by the Soviet Union in the 1940s.

Tuva is currently struggling to distance itself a bit from Moscow's control and influence and to establish a unique and recognizable identity. In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, these impulses took the form of a nationalistic drive for secession from the Russian Federation. However, in light of Tuva's economic dependence on Moscow and the instructive lessons of the tragedy in Chechnya, such nationalistic sentiments appear to have been submerged for the time being. Tuva is now looking for subtler means of gaining a greater degree of economic and political autonomy while remaining within the framework of the Russian Federation.

These subtler means include Tuva's adoption of its own constitution, and a revival and assertion of Tuva's shamanistic and Buddhist religious traditions. Both of these issues will have an impact on the future management of Tuva's natural resources and on environmental protection.

The first article of the Tuvan constitution asserts Tuva's right to secede from the Russian Federation. Other fundamental differences between the two constitutions have to do with control over natural resources. Sovereignty over the natural resources that exist within its territory, which include asbestos, gold, zinc, lead, copper, coal, timber and enormous hydroelectric potential, is, according to some, the only foundation upon which Tuva could hope to establish a stronger economic base and greater financial independence from Moscow. Others assert the need for Tuva to control its own resources in order to preserve its natural wonders. Shamanism in particular is often presented as having an ecological ethic that contrasts dramatically with the idea of large-scale extraction of natural resources.

At present, Tuva's environment is not badly degraded, according to Sergei Oktyayevich Ondar, Tuva's minister of environmental protection. "Tuva is one of the most pristine places in all of the Russian Federation," he said.

Poblems do exist. Ondar said his ministry was looking into chemical contamination of drinking-water sources from the first stages of rockets launched from Semi-Palatinsk and Baikonur, which fall back to earth in the area of western Tuva, Khakassia and Altai. There are problems of erosion and desertification on the southern slopes of the Tannu Ola mountains, along Tuva's border with Mongolia. And every year forest fires wipe out huge swaths of forest throughout Tuva.

As Tuva's leaders look to the future, they will need to figure out not only how to deal with these problems, but also how to balance the inherent tension between economic development based on exploitation of natural resources and the ecological ethic that is an integral part of the religious traditions they are reviving.

White Dust and Gold Nuggets

Nowhere is this tension more evident than in mining. At the Fifth International Ubsu-Nur Symposium, which focused on strategies of sustainable development in Inner Asia, V.N. Lebedev, the director for the Tuvan Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, asserted that "Tuva can only live independent of Russia if it can develop industries such as gold and asbestos mining."

Others, however, question the wisdom of this approach both from the economic and ecological perspectives. In response to Lebedev's suggestion, Viktor Bugrovsky, the scientific supervisor of the International Ubsu-Nur Experiment, noted that extraction of mineral resources is very destructive, and said that Tuva's mineral resources are in fact very limited and will be quickly depleted with intensive mining.

Likewise, Ondar noted that the south Siberian ecosystems are too fragile to withstand industrial-scale mining. "Most of the money from mining wouldn't stay in Tuva anyway," he added.

Tuva's pride and joy of industrial development, featured on postcards and in photo books, is the behemoth Ak-Dovurak asbestos mine in west-central Tuva. Ak-Dovurak is one of the largest open-pit asbestos mines in the world. Mining activity shrouds the adjacent town of Ak-Dovurak in a cloud of white dust (in fact, the name itself means "white dust"). This has led to elevated levels of emphysema, lung cancer and other lung diseases.

The damage from gold mining operations is also evident. From the top of Mount Dogee, one has a commanding view of the town of Kyzyl, and of the khem belderi, the confluence of the Bii-Khem and Kaa-Khem rivers, which come together to form the Yenisei. From this vantage point, the contrast between the murky yellow-brown water of the Bii-Khem, which carries tailings down from a number of gold mining operations in Tuva's northeast, contrasts dramatically with the clear, deep blue waters of the Kaa-Khem, where there is no gold mining.

"The miners are using a very old technology called amalgamation [to extract the gold]," Ondar explained. In the process, waste water containing mercury is produced. This mercury is poisonous to humans and to wildlife.

Targeting Tourists and Students

Ondar notes that there are better technologies for extracting gold, but he believes that Tuva can develop economically without gold mining. "The potential for our economic progress lies in tourism and in traditional economic activities such as herding," he said. "It will be very difficult to develop tourism. The main problems are lack of infrastructure and difficulties with transportation. We're not on a train route. It will require a lot of investment and a lot of PR, but I believe that it is possible."

Bugrovsky likewise believes that Tuva's future economic development lies in tourism. "I see no way to sustainable development in Tuva without tourism," he said.

Andriyan Dugarovich Doduk, director of the Ubsu-Nur Biosphere Reserve, noted that environmental protection will not only benefit the health of people, but it will encourage people to come to Tuva. "Scientists and tourists will come, and anyone interested in the history of Inner Asia," he said. "There are archeological sites, historical monuments and tumuli [mounds] that haven't been excavated yet. This will contribute to the economy of the local area and of Tuva as a whole."

In addition to tourism, environmental education will have to be a central component of Tuva's sustainable development efforts. Zoya Samdan, a researcher at the Tuvan Institute for Humanitarian Research, said that the Tuva used to live according to principles of sustainable development. "People for nature and nature for people was the attitude of earlier generations," she said. "This attitude must be preserved in the consciousness of future generations."

Samdan recommended the introduction of ecological education in schools. Steps toward this goal have already been taken. Kyzyl's School #5 has introduced an ecology program into its curriculum. Salgalga, a new environmental NGO in Tuva, organizes lectures in schools and is planning educational programs, Ondar said. Project Harmony, a Vermont-based NGO, organizes a student exchange between Tuva and the United States that emphasizes environmental awareness.

In addition, the Center for the Coordination of Ecological Enlightenment at the Ubsu-Nur Biosphere Reserve in Erzin coordinates outreach efforts that target the schools. "We must start with the young people," Doduk said. "We go to the schools, talk to parents, work with libraries. We give lectures on the biosphere reserve and on the protection of nature."

Perhaps the time has come to rephrase Feynman's words: "Whatever will happen to Tannu Tuva?" Bugrovsky expressed cautious optimism for Tuva's future. "I want to think that sustainable development will give these people the opportunity to raise their standard of living," he said. "But it depends on the overall economic situation of our country, which you see is not very good right now."

Ondar, despite his frank assessment of the difficulties facing Tuva, was more confident that Tuva could find that balance between economic development and environmental protection. "How could I do this job if I didn't believe it was possible?" he asked.

Brian Donahoe is a graduate student in anthropology at Indiana University. His principal research interest is indigenous natural resource management among the nomadic reindeer herders of northeastern Tuva.