In the 1990s, however, as  90% of Russian gas can be found on the Yamal peninsula, Gazprom company under the Yamal LNG (Liquefied natural gas) initiated preparations for one of its biggest gas projects, the Yamal Megaproject gas exploitation project [1] [6].  

Due to this mega project, Nentes' traditional lands have been transformed and environmental degradation started to take place [1].  “For them it is fortune, for us terror,” said 20-year-old herder. “The fact they’ve found deposits here is catastrophic”, another member of Nenets community stated [2]. Due to this project, some Nentes members left their traditional lands on the peninsula, as they refused a life in permanent settlements [1]. 

For those who stayed, the main problems are biophysical land degradation and the disappearance of cultural tradition. Their nomadic lifestyle and migration routes have been disrupted by gas infrastructure, pollution, and the effects of climate change [1]. 

But Nenets depend on reindeer-herding for their cultures and livelihoods. For example, warmer climate in the Arctic lead to a denser shrub growth across the tundra, making it more difficult for Nenets to gather and move reindeer herds. Extreme temperatures can cause freezing rain and ice that the reindeer herds can not graze or pass across easily [1]. In addition, the new pipelines and other industrial infrastructure are creating further obstacles to traditional migration routes [1].

Many activists from the Nenets community, especially the Forest Nenets, involved in Indigenous rights group alliances of Siberia, have publicly raised their concerns about the environmental challenges facing their community in order to raise awareness about the environmental and cultural issues of gas and oil industries on their traditional territories [1]. The activists have been holding seminars and training sessions, including legal issues, economic development, pollution and climate change [5].

In 2019, a Moscow court ordered the closing down of the Indigenous rights group, saying that the organization has not provided the correct documentation which is needed to be recognized by the Russian law [5]. But the group argued how the Russian Government accuses the community of trying to thwart Russian economic development [5].  

The group’s allies say "this is a nonsense" and continue: "the alleged sentence is nothing but a pretext to silence the organization" [5]. “It’s not a legal issue. It’s a political one,” said the director of the Center for Support of Indigenous People of the North/Russian Indigenous Training Center. “There’s a big conflict of interest between corporations and indigenous people” [5]. The aim is “to frighten the society” [5]. 

"The organization also argued how the government built the gas plant ignoring climate change and crisis issues. The organization also argues how the development of such huge gas fields has other issues with permafrost holes, that can explode very easily, bringing a danger of large scale accidents to the community as well [5]. 

Gazprom, on the other hand, argues how they provide the Yamal province with $665 million a year, but did not comment on how exactly the money is distributed and to whom [2]. Herders and administration officials argue that compensations for pasture degradation and land are meant for local government but they do not reach Nenets people [2]. The community still argues how they do not want their cultural landscapes change: “I want my grandchildren to see our land as it is: beautiful, fresh, full of berries and deer” [2]

In order to have access to the gas resources of Yamal, the Gazprom company uses a new shipping route, known as the Northern Sea Route. the route reaches Asia in only 15 days, compared with 30 days using the conventional route through the Suez Canal, which includes an ice-breaking process and at the same time accelerates the ice melting in the Russian Arctic [3].

The production at the new Yamal plant also increases the traffic on Russia's Northern Sea Route—which runs 2,800 miles from the Kara Sea east to the Bering Strait with 18 million tons of cargo. The Russian Government has ordered 80 million tons of cargo per route [5]. This would take an additional $163-billion investment in Arctic resources extraction—including development of coal deposits on the Taymyr Peninsula east of Yamal, of the Payakha oil field in the Yenisey River delta, and of a northbound oil pipeline from the Vankor oil field [5].