The Udege live in the far south-east of Siberia, where winters are long and cold. They live by the rivers that flow through their forest; the Udege sub-groups ? Bikini, Samargin, Iman, Khor and Aniuke - are named after the rivers in their territories.
How do they live? The Udege derive all that they need from
their forest, feeding themselves by hunting, fishing and gathering;
some also grow their own vegetables. They obtain other supplies by
trading produce such as furs, salmon, and ginseng. Many Udege prefer to
eat their meat and fish raw. Their densely forested land is also home
to many endangered species, such as the rare Siberian tiger. To the
Udege, both the tigers and the bears who share their forest are sacred;
their numbers are sometimes taken as a sign of the health of the forest.
What problems do they face? Like many indigenous
peoples, the Udege's lifestyle was viciously suppressed by the Soviet regime.
They were forced from their small family groups in the forest into towns where
they were forced to speak Russian and their religion was banned. The effects on
their society are still being felt today. The Udege's forest is now extremely
attractive to outside commercial interests for both its timber and its mineral
wealth. In the early 1990s, the logging division of the South Korean company
Hyundai planned to clear vast areas of the forest, which would have devastated
the Udege's lands and environment and destroyed their livelihood. A Russian
company, Terneiles, has been working on similar plans recently. Most of the
Udege want their land declared a 'Territory of Traditional Natural Resource
Use', which would give it protection from such threats.
How can I help?
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How does
Survival help? A Survival campaign in 1992 was successful in persuading
Hyundai to abandon its plans for logging in the Udege's forest. Our support in
the face of recent threats has played a part in persuading Terneiles to call off
its logging plans until at least 2003. But Survival is calling for more
permanent protection of Udege land - supporting the Udege's call for their land
to be declared a 'Territory of Traditional Natural Resource Use', and also
calling for their land ownership rights over it to be recognised, in accordance
with international law.
