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Monitoring Polar Bears

8 March 2011
On 19-22 February 2011, twenty-two scientists, managers and community experts from Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States, met in Edmonton, Canada, to develop a Pan-Arctic Monitoring Plan for Polar Bears.

The workshop, managed by the Arctic Council Working Group CAFF, focused on developing a coordinated and efficient pan-Arctic monitoring approach that would:

  • Detect changes in polar bear populations across the Arctic
  • Implement standard assessment measures using community-based and scientific monitoring
  • Identify which subpopulations to monitor and the necessary frequency of monitoring
  • Use a suite of indicators to assess subpopulation status and trends
  • Identify the factors driving population changes
  • Report the results to decision-makers from local communities to national government and regional bodies.

Over the coming months, the results of the workshop will be used to develop a Pan-Arctic Polar Bear Monitoring Plan, with an expected release in October 2011.

Links:
Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP)
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)

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