I just read this on the David Suzuki foundation website and I'm a little disappointed by my Canadian government. In October, the US and Russia ratified a bilateral agreement for the long-term
conservation of shared polar bear populations in Alaska, the US and
Chukotka, Russia but the Canadian government doesn't feel the need to put Polar Bears under the the Species At Risk Act, the federal government still hasn't taken action. Here is the article :
November 26, 2007 OTTAWA -- Canada's polar
bears are at risk of disappearing and the federal government currently
has no plan to protect them amid shrinking Arctic ice conditions as a
result of global warming.
The
David Suzuki Foundation report, Canada's Polar Bear: Falling Through
the Cracks? finds that despite increasing threats to their survival --
including melting sea ice, organic pollutants, and increased shipping
traffic and oil/gas exploration -- polar bears are not listed federally
as a species at risk. In fact, out of the seven Canadians
provinces/territories where polar bears are found, only two (Ontario
and Newfoundland and Labrador) list the species provincially.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province or territory to have a
formal management plan in place to protect the iconic bear.
The
report also concludes that Canada currently has no marine protected
areas in the Arctic. As well, these marine mammals require land for
denning and travel corridors; however, four polar bear populations in
Canada presently are without even a single hectare of land protected
within their range.
"Right now, the polar bear receives zero
legislative protection at the national level," says Rachel Plotkin, the
Foundation's biodiversity policy analyst. "Strong endangered species
laws and protected areas are two critical tools Canada has to recover
and protect species at risk like the polar bear."
Thirteen of
the world's 19 polar bear populations call the Canadian Arctic home. As
the report finds, five populations show a decline in numbers. These
populations, as well as others, could face continued decline in a
landscape increasingly transformed by global warming.
Temperatures
are rising far more rapidly in the Arctic than in the rest of the
world. Since 1978, sea ice cover has declined by approximately nine per
cent per decade, and the rate of melting appears to be increasing each
year. This loss of sea ice threatens Canadian wildlife, like the polar
bear, which are wholly dependent on the Arctic sea ice habitat for survival.
"We
know that the North is warming up. We know that Arctic sea ice is
melting. And we know that polar bears rely on sea ice for survival,"
says Ms. Plotkin. "As sea ice disappears, so will the polar bears
unless federal, provincial and territorial governments "list" the polar
bear and step in with effective management plans to deeply reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, ban persistent organic pollutants, and
protect marine and terrestrial areas."
Click here for a youtube video about the Polar Bears
The full report, Canada’s Polar Bear: Falling Through the Cracks? can be found online here
Time for me to write the Canadian Minister of the Environment that they need to act now before it's to late. you can send an email here
You can read the David Suzuki Foundation Report Left off the List profiles
eight species that have been recommended for listing by its scientific
body but not added to the Species At Risk Act (SARA) list, including:
Peary caribou, western Wolverine, northwestern grizzly bear, porbeagle
shark, several populations of beluga whale and Atlantic salmon.