WWF-Canada: National Roundtable Meeting Provides Opportunity to Solve Canada's Polar Bear Crisis

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jan 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
Eight of the 13 Canadian polar bear subpopulations are either depleted or
showing significant signs of stress. This Friday's federal Environment
Minister's National Roundtable on Polar Bears presents a critical
opportunity to ensure that Canada implements strong new measures to
protect polar bears for their long-term survival.

WWF expects at least four major outcomes arising from this very important
Roundtable: A North American Conservation Action Plan for polar bears;
strong leadership to reduce all main threats, including climate change;
full protection of all critical habitats for polar bears; and major
increases in resources to complete proper scientific research.

Roughly 15,000 (two-thirds) of the world's 20-25,000 polar bears live in
Canada, and face four main threats: climate change, which is reducing
their sea-ice habitat; over-hunting; increasing industrialisation of
critical habitats; and toxic chemicals in the Arctic food chain.

Of the eight subpopulations showing clear signs of ecological problems,
five have declining numbers (western Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, Kane Basin,
Norwegian Bay, and southern Beaufort Sea), and a sixth (southern Hudson
Bay) is showing clear biological signs of stress.

Two subpopulations in the central Arctic are increasing (McClintock
Channel and Viscount Melville Sound), due to the cessation of past
over-hunting, but are still below historic levels. The Davis Strait
subpopulation may be increasing, possibly due to increased harp seal
numbers. The remaining four subpopulations probably have fairly stable
numbers.

"The facts are very clear, both from scientific research and from local
knowledge, that climate change is occurring rapidly in the Arctic and is
causing major problems for wildlife, and for northern peoples," said Dr.
Peter Ewins, Director, Species Conservation, WWF-Canada.

"The more information we gather, the more we realise that polar bears are
in increasing trouble. In fact, studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) and many other world-class analyses show clearly
that at current greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates, future reduction of
sea-ice in the Arctic could result in a loss of two-thirds of the world's
polar bears within 50 years. This is a huge problem but we still have the
opportunity to fix it if we act now."

Convening a roundtable with stakeholders was the first of three key steps
called for by WWF-Canada in a letter sent to Environment Minister Jim
Prentice last November. The remaining steps include working with the
Nunavut government to ensure an immediate cessation of polar bear
over-harvesting in the depleted Baffin Bay subpopulation until the
population has recovered and a bilateral agreement with Greenland is in
place; and implementing a Conservation Action Plan for Canada's polar
bears that addresses all main threats, including climate change.

WWF identifies at least four major measures needed to safeguard polar
bear populations:

1. By the end of 2009, Canada must develop with the U.S. and Greenland, a
North American Conservation Action Plan for polar bears and their
habitats (fully consistent with the 1973 International Agreement on the
Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitats, domestic Species at Risk
Act legislation, and the international Convention on Biological
Diversity).

2. All threats to polar bears must be managed. This would include Canada
taking a positive lead role in securing a fair, effective and science
based global climate change agreement this December in Copenhagen; and
having relevant jurisdictions implement precautionary management of all
polar bear harvests and industrial activities to allow for maximum
resilience in polar bears increasingly stressed by vanishing sea-ice.

3. All jurisdictions must ensure that key polar bear habitats (feeding
and denning areas) are fully mapped and protected from cumulative
pressures from industrial activity, such as is now occurring in the
Beaufort Sea and Baffin Bay. Industrial activities include oil, gas and
mineral development as well as shipping. Potential protection measures
could also include new safeguards for the High Arctic Islands, where the
General Circulation Models and IPCC scientists agree ice-dominated marine
systems will retreat to by mid-Century, or perhaps earlier.

4. Significantly increase funding to ensure the resources are available
to sustain world-class scientific research on polar bears and their key
habitats and to collate local Aboriginal knowledge. Furthermore, this
information must be properly integrated into resource management planning
processes across the North American Arctic.

"WWF completely agrees with former Environment Minister John Baird's
statement last April, when he said, 'A declining polar bear population is
not an option for Canada,'" concluded Ewins. "With two-thirds of the
world's polar bears, Canada has a major international responsibility to
safeguard these animals and their habitats for future generations. We
look forward to seeing these major outcomes and firm commitments from the
Canadian government and the assembled roundtable participants. By working
together effectively, we still can ensure a healthy future for polar
bears."

This news release and associated material can be found on wwf.ca.

Contacts:
WWF-Canada
Dr. Peter Ewins
Director, Species Conservation
(416) 484-7711 or Cell: (647) 400-9576
Email: pewins@wwfcanada.org
Website: www.wwf.ca

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-