Sustainability and Resilience of Indigenous Siberian Communities under the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure Transformation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper deals with the transport infrastructure provision for remote areas and the underlying impacts on the communities.

It is very well written, with minor English revisions needed. (misspellings).

Some definitions should be provided as well as an explanation of it, such as, "sustainability" in general and inner the context of the study, also, there is a slight difference between "transport" and "transportation", the authors should state which is the best suitable for the study. Also when referring to remote (hard to reach) areas, is it also true by air mode transport?

Some more recent literature should be used and cited, also some references from other geographical areas, it is too focused on the area of study.

The Figure 1 should be "self-explained" and should bring all the information needed.

In the Methodology, the authors should provide more details about the treatment of the data collected in the interviews, and link it with the conclusions.

 

Author Response

The authors are extremely obliged to the Reviewer!

 

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. It is very well written, with minor English revisions needed. (misspellings).

 

Yes, we tried to remove misspellings

 

2. Some definitions should be provided as well as an explanation of it, such as, "sustainability" in general and inner the context of the study, also, there is a slight difference between "transport" and "transportation", the authors should state which is the best suitable for the study.

Special thanks for the comment  on  difference between "transport" and "transportation"

We tried to differ Transport as vehicles  and transportation  as moving people or cargo

Also we give additional treatment and references on the term Sustainability

 

 

Even definition of Brundtland Commission is traditionally used in context of sustainable development [ Jarvie, M. E. (2016). Brundtland Report. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available online:  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brundtland-Report ( accessed on 3 May 2022) ], sustainability assessments and criteria  has been still open questions [Sala, S., Ciuffo, B., & Nijkamp, P. (2015). A systemic framework for sustainability assessment. Ecological Economics, 119, 314–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.09.015].

In this regard experts try to implement diverse sustainability metrics in contemporary environmental descriptions, just to share responsibilities between parties in their anthropogenic activities without compromising the needs of people living in other places or in other times [E. Jacob-Lopes, L. Zepka, M. Depra (2021)  Sustainability Metrics and Indicators of Environmental Impact. Industrial and Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment.  -200 pages https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823411-2.09997-7].

The works embrace general meta-disciplinary issues of sustainability [D. Jamieson, Sustainability and beyond, Ecol. Econ. 24 (2–3) (1998) 183–192, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(97)00142-0 ]  and those that concern policy-making [De Vries, B. J. M., & Petersen, A. C. (2009). Conceptualizing sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 68(4), 1006–1019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.11.015  ] and decision making in business [ Five environmental metrics worth tracking(2021). CONSERVICE ESG. Available online  https://www.gobyinc.com/five-environmental-sustainability-metrics-worth-tracking/ (accessed on 2 May 2022) ] .

Sustainability assessment is performed for elaborating balanced solutions in a space of socio-economic and environmental sectors, and also it goes beyond technical boundaries.

Not only experts and policymakers should be involved into the process, but stakeholders, who further will be central actors and their opinion is thus of value.

Moral aspects and accepting the plural envisages of quality of life by taking into account  the attitudes , values and beliefs of local individuals and communities have been emphasized beside socio-economic and environment sustainability dimensions [De Vries, B. J. M., & Petersen, A. C. (2009). Conceptualizing sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 68(4), 1006–1019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.11.015  ].

 

 

3. Also when referring to remote (hard to reach) areas, is it also true by air mode transport?

Yes, nowadays air transport often is unavailable for indigenous people because of costs and irregularities.

4. Some more recent literature should be used and cited, also some references from other geographical areas, it is too focused on the area of study.

We cite more sources and refer to SIDS a bit as an example of remoteness.

The study areas are located at distances of thousands of kilometers from each other (Fig.1) . It is interesting that these regions in their remoteness are similar to small island developing states -SIDS [59]. As experts note territory remoteness, poor economy and environment fragility go hand by hand [60]. Six dimensions of remoteness were announced for SIDS and among them connectivity due to existing transportation infrastructure [61]. Since there are no means for a territory of a state or a district to control its physical location, pertinent connectivity might be improved through organizing effective  transport networks which promote setting and supporting numerous links  of cultural and economical activities.

5. The Figure 1 should be "self-explained" and should bring all the information needed.

Improved.

6. In the Methodology, the authors should provide more details about the treatment of the data collected in the interviews, and link it with the conclusions.

 We added

Comparative geographical method was used for a comprehensive characterization of the study territories, which made it possible to identify geographical features and socio-economic factors for development of transportation infrastructures of the territories. Application of this method made sense to identify and display qualitative and quantitative differences and analyze pertinent dynamic processes. A spatial feature of transport is linear-network and nodal nature of the placement of transport objects in geographic space. To reflect the spatial features, comparative geographic method was utilized in close connection with cartographic approach. To compare three territories with their natural and socio-economic specificities, maps were designed that made it possible to elaborate a “portrait of a territory”. The main factors for location and development of transport facilities were identified, the features that regulate transportation situation in the study territories were named, these can be used further to assess technological projects of building new roads and restoring historical and informal routes to improve moving of the population.

Many thanks

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Authors can address the comments given below:

1. Highlight the importance of the study in the abstract. Reduce the word count in the abstract by highlighting the importance.
2. Which methods of geographic analysis is used in this work?
3. What are the drawbacks for the transformation of transport infrastructure?
4. "there are difficulties in transport provision of hard-to-reach settlements and indigenous people come to ambiguous" - What about safety and precautionary aspects need to be implemented regarding this?
5. Whether technology road is equal to smart road technology. Justify.
6. When considering socioeconomic and environmental conditions in transportation, justify the challenges involved in the implementation.

Author Response

The authors are so obliged to the Reviewer!

 

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Authors can address the comments given below:

1. Highlight the importance of the study in the abstract. Reduce the word count in the abstract by highlighting the importance.

Transport provision of remote territories is one of the most important factors in maintaining sustainability of socio-economic and ecological systems. Indigenous peoples of Siberia have always been mobile using diverse  traditional ways across the taiga. During the Soviet period, the transition to settled life, along with technological development and emergence of new modes of transport, such as off-road cars, snowmobiles, motor boats, significantly affected the level of population mobility, including remote areas where people are engaged in traditional nature management. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were significant changes and reductions in the subsidies of transportation systems for remote terrains that made them isolated. Transport connectivity has been realized through rare plane flights (once a month or less) or by cars on dirt roads (actually off-road) that take several days of travel. Siberian territories rich with natural resources and having low population density and weak infrastructure might be  attractive for mining companies. Being difficult to access not only for the local population, but also for industrial companies, the territories imply allocation of a significant share of road construction and transport costs in the cost item of miners and processors. The problems of sustainability and resilience of the indigenous peoples of Siberia require special attention when restructuring transport communications, but they have practically not been studied before. Methods of in-depth and group interviews with local residents were used. Based on comparative geographic and statistical analysis and generalization of data, network and problem approaches applied for various sources and field materials (including in-depth and group interviews), the factors of sustainability and resilience, which the indigenous communities of three remote Siberian territories pin their hopes on in the context of the transformation of transportation infrastructure, have been identified. If geographic remoteness remains an unchanged fact, the expansion of desired transport accessibility (mainly due to investments by industrial companies) is associated by locals with possibility of additional income related to provision of services, emergence of new types of employment of the population that have not been observed before, implementation  of new transport modes to support traditional activities.

2. 
   Which methods of geographic analysis is used in this work?

Comparative geographical method was used for a comprehensive characterization of the study territories, which made it possible to identify geographical features and socio-economic factors for development of transportation infrastructures of the territories. Application of this method made sense to identify and display qualitative and quantitative differences and analyze pertinent dynamic processes. A spatial feature of transport is linear-network and nodal nature of the placement of transport objects in geographic space. To reflect the spatial features, comparative geographic method was utilized in close connection with cartographic approach. To compare three territories with their natural and socio-economic specificities, maps were designed that made it possible to elaborate a “portrait of a territory”. The main factors for location and development of transport facilities were identified, the features that regulate transportation situation in the study territories were named, these can be used further to assess technological projects of building new roads and restoring historical and informal routes to improve moving of the population.

 

3. What are the drawbacks for the transformation of transport infrastructure?

Recent works underline series of negative impact that can concomit to implementation of transportation infrastructures especially through transport pressure on the environment with further distortion of traditional social relations and cultural components [Zubala, T. Effect of transport infrastructure development on selected components of the environment of inner-city river valley and the possibility of its revitalization (Lublin, Poland). Environ Sci Pollut Res (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18964-y;  Wang, L., Xue, X., Zhao, Z., & Wang, Z. (2018). The Impacts of Transportation Infrastructure on Sustainable Development: Emerging Trends and Challenges. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(6), 1172. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061172; Griškevičiūtė-Gečienė, A., & Griškevičienė, D. (2016). The Influence of Transport Infrastructure Development on Sustainable Living Environment in Lithuania. Procedia Engineering, 134, 215–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.01.062;

Laurance, W.F.; Clements, G.R.; Sloan, S.; O’connell, C.S.; Mueller, N.D.; Goosem, M.; Venter, O.; Edwards, D.P.; Phalan, B.; Balmford, A. A global strategy for road building. Nature 2014, 513, 229–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13717;

Palmer, M.A. Water resources: Beyond infrastructure. Nature 2010, 467, 534–535  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.07.031 ].

Contrary to expectations of only social cohesion pluses [R. Quigley , L. Thornley. Literature Review on Community Cohesion and Community Severance: Definitions and Indicators for Transport Planning and Monitoring. Report to New Zealand Transport Agency . 2011.-52 p. Available online https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/community-cohesion-and-community-severance/docs/community-cohesion-and-community-severance.pdf https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/02rtrinveste.pdf Accessed 5 May 2022]  it might stimulate changes to make communities disadvantageous e.g. to cause separation of locals from social networks [Impact of Transport Infrastructure Investment on Regional Development.OECD.2002  Available online https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/02rtrinveste.pdf Accessed 5 May 2022;

Nimegeer, A., Thomson, H., Foley, L., Hilton, S., Crawford, F., & Ogilvie, D. (2018). Experiences of connectivity and severance in the wake of a new motorway: Implications for health and well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 197, 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.049 ]

4. 
   "there are difficulties in transport provision of hard-to-reach settlements and indigenous people come to ambiguous" - What about safety and precautionary aspects need to be implemented regarding this?

The excerpts presented are evidence that locally there are difficulties in transportation provision of hard-to-reach settlements and indigenous people come to ambiguous and contradictory conclusions about the usefulness of mining in their places of residence.

No safety and precautionary aspects need to be implemented regarding this – ambiguity is natural for opinion of free people in   democratic country/

But all this is a matter of implementation of effective transportation infrastructure.

5. 
   Whether technology road is equal to smart road technology. Justify.

Nothing similar

6. 
   When considering socioeconomic and environmental conditions in transportation, justify the challenges involved in the implementation.

Challenges:

While implementing appropriate transportation infrastructure the challenges encountered adjoin with other  dimensions of remoteness [ Remoteness(2021). Development statistics and information branch . UNCTAD . Available at  https://sdgpulse.unctad.org/remoteness/ (accessed 2 May  2022)] concomitant to transport connectivity such as :    Distances from markets , financing sources , political  centres , Lack of Digital connectivity.  Others reflect geographical position and are presented by severe climate ( permafrost, contrast temperatures), mount landscape, and sparse population.

 

Many thanks!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

 

This paper should argue the research problem.

At the same time, authors  must revise the languages. Many sentences have the languages mistakes.

 

 

 

 

Author Response

The authors would like to express thanks to the Reviewer!

 

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

This paper should argue the research problem.

At the same time, authors must revise the languages. Many sentences have the languages mistakes.

Agree, we tried to improve the text ton some extent.

Thank you.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Authors have submitted their response nicely. This paper may be accepted.