Elena Gladun: «The Co-Management Model Offers Many Opportunities for Transforming Indigenous Peoples’ Lives»

June 5, 2026

On May 29, 2026, the PORA Expert Center held a discussion club on the topic: «Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the Role of the State and Business in This Process.» Speaking at the event, PORA expert Elena Gladun, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor at the Academic Department of the School of Law and Governance at the University of Tyumen, expressed confidence that the co-management model has sufficient potential for the development of Russia’s Arctic territories and should be systematically developed and implemented with the participation of the state, business, and Indigenous peoples themselves.

In recent decades, the strategic objectives for the development of the Arctic territories of the Russian Federation have become one of the most discussed topics from political, economic, and legal perspectives. For example, hydrocarbon extraction, infrastructure development, and the development of the Northern Sea Route are among the areas where economic interests of the state, energy and resource security objectives, environmental protection requirements, and the need to take into account the interests of Indigenous peoples living in the Arctic collide most acutely.

The Arctic is a unique space within which economic activity is carried out under conditions of high vulnerability of natural systems, slow recovery of disturbed ecosystems, and the maintenance of a special way of life and economic activities by Indigenous communities. Therefore, when making any decisions, the state and business must take into account the conditions for safe and comfortable living of the Indigenous population and the ethno-cultural development of Indigenous peoples.

Co-Management as an Organizational and Legal Model

An organizational and legal model – «co-management» – can contribute to comprehensive and ethno-oriented development. This model offers more opportunities for transforming the cultural and socio-economic aspects of Indigenous peoples’ lives and makes it possible to combine the goals of state development and Indigenous development.

Co-management is a special form of partnership between two or more parties, one of which is usually the state. Co-management (referred to in some sources as «co-management») refers to relationships in which public authorities with relevant powers and other interested parties reach an agreement on resolving specific issues related to the use of territories of traditional nature use and define: 1) a system of rights and obligations for those participating in these relationships; 2) a system of rules (norms) prescribing participants’ actions under various circumstances; 3) procedures for making collective decisions affecting the interests of all parties.

Co-management is also understood as a partnership tool between the state and Indigenous small-numbered peoples, which supports the traditional way of life and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples while simultaneously enabling the effective use of territories and natural resources for socio-economic development.

Co-management involves the engagement of Indigenous residents in joint management, together with public authorities and business, of the territories where they live and which need to be developed. Co-management is considered the most balanced approach aimed at environmental preservation, as well as the cultural and socio-economic aspects of Indigenous development in forms consistent with their worldview and values.

In the Russian context, «environmental co-management» is most frequently mentioned, which refers to the participation of Indigenous communities in making environmentally significant decisions. S.N. Kharuchi, in particular, defines environmental co-management (or co-management in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources) as the joint making of management decisions concerning the protection of the traditional habitat and way of life in places of their traditional settlement and nature use.

North American Practice

This model of interaction between the state, business, and Indigenous peoples is more characteristic of foreign countries, particularly the United States and Canada. In the United States, co-management is implemented through a mechanism of agreements between Indigenous communities and subsoil user companies. The subject of such agreements may include, for example, compensation for subsoil use on Indigenous lands (in Alaska), or forms of state infrastructure support (for Native American tribes). For example, the Navajo Nation was paid $554 million for the improper use of traditional lands.

Another form of implementing the co-management model is the practice of transferring lands where Indigenous peoples live into their use without the right of withdrawal (ownership of the land, and therefore the right to approve projects, remains with Indigenous peoples). For instance, in Canada, as early as 1999, approximately 350,000 km² were transferred to the Inuit. Additionally, they received rights to mineral resources over an area of 35,000 km² and compensation for waiving further territorial claims in the amount of $1 billion, which was paid out over 14 years.

The co-management model began to be used in the northern territories of Canada and the state of Alaska from the mid-1960s. Several factors contributed to the development of this model: primarily, the increasingly acute problems of natural resource use, as well as the growing negotiation process between the federal government and the Indigenous peoples of the North. Among the regulatory legal acts of the United States governing various forms of Indigenous participation in state affairs, the following laws stand out: the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (1966), the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975), the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978), the Safeguarding Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (2022), and others. Furthermore, relevant provisions are contained in environmental, natural resource, land use planning, and other branches of legislation. The practice of so-called «good neighbor» agreements between Indigenous tribes and natural resource user companies is actively developing.

In 1980, the US Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act provided for advisory powers for Indigenous communities in regulating fisheries and managing wildlife resources on these lands. Thus, Indigenous participation in natural resource and land management becomes mandatory.

In northern Canada, co-management regimes are often stipulated in Indigenous land claims agreements, for example, in agreements with the First Nations of Yukon. In Alaska and northern Canada, there are successful examples of co-management where Indigenous representatives (hunters and fishers) voluntarily agreed to close fishing areas to conserve resources. The establishment of the Inuit Whaling Commission by the administration of Alaska’s North Slope Borough is a striking example of co-management: under a moratorium on whaling, the Inuit Commission, in cooperation with federal authorities, secures quotas from the International Whaling Commission and then distributes them among Inuit whalers.

Russian Examples

In Russia, there are not many examples of successful co-management. The most frequently cited is environmental co-management, which, however, is implemented only in three constituent entities of the Russian Federation – the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Only the provisions of legislation that guarantee the participation of Indigenous small-numbered peoples in decision-making regarding the implementation of industrial projects can be considered as a basis for interaction between industrial companies, authorities, and Indigenous small-numbered peoples. No special provisions, agreements, or other legal bases for co-management have been established.

In some constituent entities of the Russian Federation, clearer co-management mechanisms are available to Indigenous small-numbered peoples. In particular, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, many issues concerning Indigenous peoples are resolved through the mediation of the Nenets People’s Association «Yasavey.» Additionally, those engaged in reindeer herding and their representatives have the right to submit proposals for conducting environmental and ethnological impact assessments of economic and other activities affecting the interests of reindeer herding, and to participate in conducting these assessments.

The Project Office for Arctic Development and the editorial board of GoArctic.ru do not necessarily share the opinions expressed by experts.