Stop governmental sale to developers of endangered habitats and pristine lands by securing legal communal title and rights to the ancestral lands of 60,000 indigenous Siberians.
The unspoiled land of Altai are a global legacy that the Altai people have held in trust forever. Fund the surveying and registration of 100 communal tracts of land (300-400 acres/tract) and five unprotected UNESCO World Heritage Sites, before unregistered lands must be forfeited to the government in 2010 due to new Russian land privatization laws. Villages are completely mobilized, needing only the funding for the required fees. Displacement would mean devastation of cultural wisdom and land.
Women elders lead in gathering their communities to protect aboriginal lands and culture. Volunteers secure complex documentation to be processed through the government and courts, to officially survey, register, and secure communally-held lands.
Survival of culture, health, and continue traditional role as stewards of the land. Indigenous ownership will protect sacred virgin lands from the massive commercial and tourism development projects that are already moving forward in the region.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
