Abstract: The object of this research is the Old Believer (Semeiskie) local communities of Zavaykalsky Krai. The subject of this research is the historical-geographical prerequisites of the formation of Old Believer communities in Zabaykalsky Krai. The comparative analysis of economic management in the different historical regions inhabited by Old Believers is carried out. The Semeiskie resided in the basins of Chikoy, Khilok and Selenga Rivers, and are a part of buffer zone of the Baikal natural site. The natural-geographical and ethno-social environment of Zabaykalsky Krai significantly differed from habitual to the Old Believer population circumstances and encouraged the emergence of the new strategies of natural resource management, life sustenance and communication with the social world. The scientific novelty is defined by the fact that the traditional natural resource management of the Semeiskie for the first time is viewed as the historically established, long-term and ecologically balanced use of resources suggesting the possibility of their restoration. It determines preservation of cultural image of the Semeiskie and their uniqueness. Alongside the development of the traditional economic management in the Semeiskie local communities, has evolved the ethics of natural resource management, which encompasses valuing natural resources and religious-cultural specificity. Since the Old Believers settled down in the western part of Zabaykalsky Krai, the two types of live sustaining systems have been formed; they differ in the transport-geographical position, landscape and resource base. The first type is agricultural, while the second is agricultural taiga-hunting.