WWF GUIDE FOR MARCH 2009 MEETING OF THE PARTIES:

WWF GUIDE FOR MARCH 2009 MEETING OF THE PARTIES: POLAR BEAR RANGE-WIDE CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN

Background The Arctic is at a critical threshold: unprecedented rates of climate warming driven by unrestrained anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have led to an uncertain future of huge global significance. The stability of the global climate system will be endangered with dramatic adverse consequences for the ecological and economic foundation of humankind if we do not keep global warming below a mean increase of 2 degrees centigrade. We have no analogue for such rapid and large scale changes in the historical record. The primary causes and the primary solutions to this problem are clearly the responsibility of people. People are not the only victims of this warming. Current analyses predict that by mid 21st century ⅔ of the world s remaining polar bear population may vanish due to the rapid loss of sea ice driven by anthropogenic climate warming. At the same time, and due in part to this very loss of sea ice, the Arctic s fragile natural ecosystems are under increasing threat from extractive industries including petroleum, fisheries, mining, and increased commercial shipping. Worldwide, polar bears are also facing the threat of over-harvest from unreported and illegal hunting, and from regulated harvest in regions were population data and quotas have not kept pace with the rapidly changing climate and population dynamics. In order to address the pressing need for action to save polar bears and their habitats, WWF supports the development and urgent adoption of a polar bear Conservation Action Plan (CAP) by the signatory countries (the Parties) to the 1973 International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (ACPB). This guide is the basis for a plan that will secure populations of polar bears and protect key habitats across their range in balance with human needs. This guide outlines how the Parties can live up to their (legal) responsibility and make significant and effective contributions to the long term survival of polar bears. The resulting CAP should be a living document, whose implementation needs to be monitored closely, and management measures reviewed and adapted as new research and information becomes available. Polar bears fighting Fitting a satellite radio collar Polar bear mother and young 2

Global Status Recently, both the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the U.S. Department of the Interior raised the threat level for polar bears, primarily due to the damaging effects of global warming. Sea ice scientists predict continued reduction in summer sea ice, with a completely summer ice-fee Arctic Ocean by at least the middle of this century. The world s leading polar bear scientists predict rates of polar bear decline of at least 30-60% over the next 35-50 years. In the short-term, as ice packs shrink, polar bear populations will be forced to live in closer proximity to human communities, increasing the likelihood for conflict resulting in the death of bears, illegal poaching of bears, and human injury or death. The longer-term prognosis for many of these populations is unclear, with uncertainty on how, or even if, polar bears can adapt to ice-free summers in the Arctic. Without enhanced understanding, and broader conservation measures established very soon, the long-term survival of polar bears in the wild is in jeopardy. Threats To Polar Bears The loss of sea ice through climate warming is the greatest single threat to the survival of polar bears. However, additional threats to polar bears need to be addressed on the ground in order to reduce added stresses to today s polar bear populations and give them the best chance to cope with a rapidly changing environment. The key challenges that must be addressed through a polar bear Conservation Action Plan and fully implemented program include: Anthropogenic climate warming due to green house gas emissions; Human use directly impacting the species, such as over harvest, poaching, illegal trade, and unsustainable tourism; Direct threats from industrial activity in critical habitat such as oil and gas development and arctic shipping; Loss of habitat and protecting regions anticipated to be important refugia in the future; Increasing human-polar bear conflicts due to changes in habitat, especially food availability and changing migration patterns and; POPs and long-range toxins. Like the species itself, many of the threats and challenges to polar bears are trans-boundary, and they need to be addressed at a circumpolar and global level. The Parties have a unique opportunity and responsibility and timelimited opportunity now to address these threats effectively. Recommended Conservation Action Plan Goal By 2020, wild Polar Bears are exhibiting stable or improving population health parameters in all occupied regions. 3

Recommended Conservation Action Plan Objectives Starting with the 2009 Meeting of the parties to the 1973 International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, the Parties will lead in communications to their respective National delegates to the UNFCCC on the urgent need for firm, fair, and effective GHG reduction targets in Copenhagen and future negotiations. Until satisfactory, spatially explicit land and resource-use plans are in place across all jurisdictions and across the polar bear s current range, no major industrial development projects will be approved within critical polar bear habitat beginning in 2009. Direct government funding for polar bear scientific research and compilation of local knowledge is significantly increased by 2011, and sustained at levels that allow priority information gaps to be filled. By 20l2, critical/key polar bear habitats, are identified and inventoried, and comprehensive management plans are developed and implemented for each such area. These areas are appropriately managed with research and sustainable livelihood (i.e., subsistence harvesting, tourism) being the only permitted uses in such refugia. Conflicts between humans and polar bears are reduced to levels which do not negatively impact the population in at least 12 targeted communities across all 5 Party States by 2012. By 2012, polar bear harvest quotas across all range jurisdictions are set at sustainable levels based on the best available scientific and local knowledge, and adequately resourced co-management systems are in place ensuring effective management of hunts, and strict enforcement of quotas. In the absence of reasonable population trend or abundance data, a precautionary approach to harvest should be used when setting quotas including moratoriums. Within the polar bear s range, public support for, and participation in, polar bear conservation initiatives is significantly increased by 2013, through ongoing targeted communication of the importance and benefits of the species and effective management strategies. Illegal killing of polar bears and illegal trade in polar bear parts is largely eliminated by 2014 in all range states. Policies and legislation that create an enabling environment for long-term polar bear conservation are developed and applied in all 5 Party States by 2014. The livelihoods of people living alongside polar bears are improved in three target/pilot regions by 2014 through economic development activities linked to wildlife conservation. 4

The Precautionary Approach should cite the CBD wording of the PP here, just to be very clear, and to emphasise that many binding laws and policies at the national level commit to adhering to this important principle. Precaution is a response to uncertainty, in the face of risks to health or the environment. In general, it involves acting to avoid serious or irreversible potential harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude, or causation of that harm. Precaution is now an established principle of environmental governance, prominent in law, policy and management instruments at international, regional and domestic level, fisheries management, species introductions, and wildlife trade. Applying precaution in natural resource management is clearly essential. Fundamental uncertainties derive from our fragmentary understanding of species biology and complex ecosystem dynamics, and abundant stochastic variation in environmental parameters. Uncertainty is not just ecological, but also surrounds the potential impacts of forces such as globalization and decentralization, effects of movements of global markets and trade regimes, and the effectiveness and utility of conservation measures such as protected areas, use of incentives, or strict regulatory approaches. Such uncertainty underpins the arguments both of those exploiting resources, who demand evidence that exploitation causes harm before accepting limitations, and those opposing, who seek to limit exploitation in the absence of clear indications of sustainability. The immediate and obvious importance of precaution in the context of resource management, where impacts can clearly be both serious and irreversible, has been recognized through its endorsement by all major biodiversityrelated multilateral environmental agreements, as well as myriad policy and legislative instruments at all levels. (Copyright 2003 Precautionary Principle Project in partnership with IUCN, TRAFFIC, FFI and Resource Africa) Long Term Conservation Finance Long-term conservation of polar bears requires sustainable financing to secure sufficient, stable and long-term funding for research, management and education programs. Although there is increasing recognition of the need to fund polar bear conservation, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the financial resource requirements for implementing actions agreed by signatories to the ACPB. Given growing polar bear conservation challenges and the high cost of operating in Arctic regions, additional funding from polar bear Party States is necessary, along with the introduction of new financing mechanisms at national and international levels. Sustainable conservation financing involves efficient management of financial resources as well as diversification of funding sources from both public and private sources. The Parties can collaborate to catalyze innovative and marketbased approaches to sustainable financing that address financial gaps and achieve the scale of funding needed. Sustainable harvesting of polar bears and sustainable tourism provide opportunities for equitable revenue sharing with indigenous peoples. Promising new options to explore include: multi-donor conservation trust funds, 5

climate change funds, bear-human compensation funds, private sector partnerships based on brand advertising (e.g. GEF-IUCN-World Bank Save Your Logo campaign), biodiversity offsets, revenues from high end tourism, charity lotteries and investment vehicles such as green bonds. Partnership With The IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) The IUCN Species Survival Commission currently has two specialist groups that work with bears: the Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) and the Bear Specialist Group (BSG). Polar bears are treated separately from the other bear species due to the ACPB management authority. The PBSG currently has 19 formal members, including scientists and managers from the five nations signing the Agreement. The PBSG has met routinely since 1968 to discuss issues regarding the research and management of polar bears throughout their range. The group invites specialists, including aboriginal stakeholders, as needed to address specific research and management issues of concern. The PBSG is widely recognized as the leading authority on polar bear research and management. The ACPB currently has no formal relationship with the PBSG, although they have a long history of collaboration. The PBSG was also a crucial player in the negotiation and drafting of the ACPB. Using the paradigm of the Canadian Polar Bear Technical Committee and the Polar Bear Administrative Committee, the Parties should formally recognize the PBSG and its role as scientific advisor to the Agreement. Conservation Action Plans The framework for CAP s has evolved over the past twenty years to enhance effective strategies and add measures of success for large-scale conservation projects. CAPs are being adapted and applied widely by NGO and government entities around the world. From the African Wildlife Foundation to the government of Guatemala to the State of Florida s Wildlife Conservation Plan, CAPs are being used globally to achieve the conservation planning goals of a wide array of projects and sites. The Tiger and African Elephant Conservation Action Plans are working examples of large scale CAPs in action today. WWF pledges to work in partnership with the Parties as they develop and work to implement a Polar Bear CAP. 6

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