Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya

Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya

photo courtesy E. Bogoslovskaya

Quick Facts

Significance:

lead scientist behind the concept of a U.S. - Russian international park in Bering Strait, chief collaborator and lobbyist for the set of laws and regulations that restored indigenous whaling in Chukotka and other traditional subsistence practices in the Russian Federation.

Place of Birth:

Moscow, Russia

Date of Birth:

1937

Place of Death:

Moscow, Russia

Date of Death:

2015

Does natural conservation warrant cultural preservation, or is a healthy ecosystem dependent on the robust sustainable cultural identity of the people inhabiting it? The life and work of Russian biologist and environmental activist Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya reflected and united these seemingly contradictory perspectives and tendencies, building lasting international connections.
Bogoskovskaya was born in Moscow in 1937. Her early childhood came in the years when Stalinist repressions eliminated the crème of Russian intellectual and political elite, and World War II left the country in ruins. As the man-made world collapsed under ideological and political clashes, nature was a source of solace, and it is perhaps not surprising that Lyudmila chose biology as her field of study. In 1959 she graduated from the Department of Biology and Soils of Moscow University. Her work was focused on the study of neurons in mammal and bird brains, animal behavior and navigational systems. Throughout her entire career, the Arctic played an important role in Bogoslovskaya’s research. One of her early projects explored the acoustic system of juvenile harp seals in the White Sea, and in 1971 she began research on whale behavior and physiology in Chukotka.
Working closely with indigenous people in Chukotka introduced Bogoslovskaya to the depth of indigenous peoples’ knowledge about their environment, and their deeply rooted practices of nature conservation. A keen listener, she incorporated indigenous observations in her research, and even utilized baidaras - traditional open skin boats of Chukotka – for her expeditions along the coast of Chukotka and to Ratmanov Island in Bering Strait. While continuing her biological research, and working towards her doctorate in biology, which she defended in 1987, Bogoslovskaya became increasingly interested in indigenous subsistence and heritage and began lobbying for subsistence rights of Chukotka’s indigenous peoples. In 1982 she petitioned the Ichthyologic Commission of the Soviet Union to restore indigenous subsistence hunting for bowhead whales, which was prohibited by the Soviet government since 1976.  Bogoslovskaya argued that whaling is an essential element for cultural preservation of local indigenous communities, which practiced sustainable whaling for millennia. Thanks to her unyielding efforts, indigenous whaling in Chukotka was restored in 1997.
In 1970s, Bogoslovskaya began advocating for the creation of specially protected territories in Chukotka. According to her vision, such areas would preserve coastal and near-shore ecosystems and the cultural heritage of indigenous people. By the 1990s this idea gained support at high levels, especially after Presidents of the USSR and USA announced the intent to organize an international Beringia park. While the U.S. had existing parks in the Bering Strait region, there were no specially protected areas in Chukotka. Together with V. Krasilov, Bogoslovskaya was charged with developing the strategic plan for the Russian Beringia park. Building upon their work in Chukotka, community consultations, and experience of Alaskan parks they visited, Krasilov and Bogoslovskaya developed the concept of a park that would combine nature conservation with cultural preservation, protecting nature, traditional lifestyle, and subsistence. Their plan, although enthusiastically received at first, encountered several setbacks. The new Russian Beringia natural and ethnic park opened in 1993 as a regional park without international status. In 2013, the park received national status. Together with the NPS Shared Beringian Heritage Program, the National Beringia Park is working on deepening international collaboration in preserving cultural and natural heritage of Bering Strait and adjacent regions.  
During the last two decades of her life Bogoslovskaya worked at the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage in Moscow, where she organized the Center of Traditional Subsistence. During this time, she oversaw graduate students, published her research, collaborated on several joint volumes, and continued playing an active role in developing the Russian Federation’s legislation on traditional subsistence. She left a prolific legacy of published work, including a Russian-language manual on whales of Chukotka created for indigenous hunters (Киты Чукотки: Пособие для Морских Охотников), the compendium of Eastern Chukotka indigenous knowledge about local ice, snow and winds (Наши Льды, Снега и Ветры), and English-language coedited volumes Maritime Hunting Culture of Chukotka (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/beringia/publications.htm) and Inuit Whaling and Sustainability https://www.amazon.com/Books-Lyudmila-Bogoslovskaya/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ALyudmila+Bogoslovskaya.