Developing tourism and reindeer husbandry on Rybachy Peninsula

Rybachy Peninsula, the northernmost part of continental European Russia, was for decades a closed territory but was opened for tourism development in 2010.

One and a half year ago the municipal “Pechenga Company” was established to develop reindeer husbandry on Rybachy Peninsula, and started business with some 500 animals in the herd. The herd has since increased significantly in numbers, the Pechenga municipality writes in a press release. “It is possible that we could get the first reindeer meat from Rybachy already this year,» Aleksander Molotsov of the Pechenga administration says to SeverPost.

The Rybachy Peninsula has not been used as pasture-land for reindeer for decades, and is rich in lichen, the reindeer’s favorite food. The reindeer on Rybachy Peninsula are being herded by Sami from Lovozero, the main area for indigenous people on the Kola Peninsula.

The other business activity the municipality of Pechenga is involved in is construction of a tourist complex. Three of a total of six houses have already been built – the rest will be ready in course of the year. The base will have room for 30 people when finished. Both the reindeer husbandry and the tourist base are developed with budget funding and private investors.

The Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas are used by the Northern Fleet as training grounds. This winter the Ministry of Defence used the area as testing site for more than 20 different vehicles,

Before the Second World War a colony of Norwegian emigrants, so-called Kola Norwegians, lived on the Rybachy Peninsula. During the war the Norwegians and other civilians were evacuated from the area.