50 years of multilateral polar bear conservation: what’s to celebrate?

This year marks 50 years since the governments of the five polar bear range states signed a legally binding, multilateral treaty committing to collectively ensure the conservation of polar bears. Ten years ago, the range states reconfirmed their commitment through a 10-year Circumpolar Action Plan (CAP) to 2025. This week, from October 30 to November 2, they come together to report on progress since 2020 and next steps.

When we picture the Arctic looking down from the top of the globe, we see a partly frozen ocean bordered by land masses: Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the USA. All five countries are home to polar bears, which spend their lives on the coasts as well as on and in the oceans of these nations, and north into the Central Arctic Ocean.

These countries, termed the polar bear range states, have a shared responsibility for conserving polar bears. This is no easy mandate. Climate change is the biggest threat to polar bears because it is destroying their sea ice habitat. And we are alarmingly close to missing our 2030 deadline to get it sufficiently under control to avoid the worst effects for people, nature and the planet.

Why do we think multilateral cooperation for polar bear conservation is important?

• Polar bears move freely across national borders. Nearly half of the 19 subpopulations span multiple countries, and the Arctic Basin subpopulation is largely beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of any of the five countries. Collaboration is needed for conservation, research and management of bears and their habitats.
• Climate change –  the gravest threat to polar bears must tackle  – needs all five governments to unite by leading with bold action and speaking out on the need to do so.
• Addressing other major issues, including the prospect of industrial development in polar bear habitats, conflict between people and polar bears, and how to manage populations effectively under climate change, all benefit from shared learnings, best practices and guidelines developed at regional scales.

Quite simply, while the Arctic is far from homogenous in terms of laws, management, peoples, and cultures, practicing conservation of a migratory species country-by-country falls about as short as a polar bear’s tail of what is needed to match the scale of the problems and the solutions.

Key actions delivered since 2020

While the final round-up of implemented actions will be presented at the upcoming meeting, here’s how progress looks so far. The majority of the 20 proposed actions the range states committed to over these past three years have been completed. Some notable new contributions are:

1. A plan and key messages for communicating the threat to polar bears and the Arctic from climate change and the need for the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These messages were crafted by scientists, government representatives, Indigenous rights holders, and non-governmental organisations. The range states now have all they need to convey the impact of climate change on polar bears and urgent need for climate action to policy- and decision-makers around the world.
2. A new report on the status of international trade of polar bear parts. It is the right of Inuit in Canada to do this for income, which is mostly earned from hides of harvested polar bears. The report found that the hides of most polar bears harvested are not exported, and trade is not a significant driver of harvest. Prices of hides and exports have declined in the last 10 years. These findings are important as they tell us that international trade in polar bear hides is regulated such that it is not currently having an impact on conservation of the species.
3. Guidance on what constitutes sustainable harvest of polar bears under climate change has been developed. It is science-based, and outlines what is needed to make sure that harvest, carried out by many Indigenous peoples of the Arctic for their cultures, livelihoods and food, does not put pressure on the health of polar bear populations. Such guidance, also informed by Indigenous Knowledge, is essential as more polar bear subpopulations feel the impacts of habitat loss and other climate change related impacts.
4. The Polar Bear-Human Interaction Management System (PBHIMS) and a tool (SMART) for entering observations directly into this Arctic-wide database are ready for implementation by all range states. Over a decade in the making, PBHIMS is a resource for managers and communities to understand polar bear-human interactions across the Arctic and develop adequate safety measures for people living and working where polar bears occur.

What should come next?

Engagement of Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples’ participation in all areas of international polar bear conservation should be facilitated going forward. Indigenous Peoples’ expertise and understanding of polar bears as part of marine ecosystems, harvest management, coexistence with polar bears, and habitat monitoring would be invaluable to the development of guidance, frameworks and best practices. A new action proposed in 2023 to develop a framework for including Indigenous Knowledge in the identification and description of essential habitat would be a very welcome start to mainstreaming co-production of knowledge for polar bear conservation.

Polar bear habitat protection

A much-awaited set of actions on polar bear essential habitats is unlikely to be fully delivered this period. It would include an inventory and map of essential habitats for polar bears across the Arctic, and their current conservation status. All five countries have committed to conserving 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, and these habitats should be incorporated into networks of marine protected and conserved areas across the Arctic Ocean.

Multiple actions to understand future important habitats of polar bears are still outstanding in the CAP. This knowledge is essential for understanding how current habitats may shift with climate change and to secure connectivity to, and protection of, those future habitats. The Last Ice Area (LIA) is a future climate refuge for polar bears, sitting above Greenland and Canada and stretching into the Central Arctic Ocean. Permanent protection of the LIA requires collective action by Greenland and Canada but also by the other governments, who could collectively propose protection of the high seas portion of this important place. Achieving permanent protection of the LIA would indeed be a feather in the CAP for polar bears.