A significant blow has been dealt to those who believe the polar bear to be at risk from climate change and human hunting activities. In a reversal of its previous position the Canadian Nunavut government has decided that Ottawa should downgrade the protection status of its polar bears, despite worldwide scientific research that argues polar bears are increasingly an at risk species.

Change in position

“We do not think bears should be listed,” said territorial environment minister Daniel Shewchuck. In his opinion polar bear populations of the region are healthy and no longer require the protection of the Species at Risk Act.

Federal environment minister Jim Prentice is currently considering a 2008 recommedation to keep polar bears listed as “a species of special concern” under the Species at Risk Act. Extensive national consultations are currently being pursued, and are expected to be complete by the autumn of 2010, a final descision being made by Prentice by spring 2011. Accepting the recommendation would oblige Ottawa to develop a management plan for the bears.

Initially Nunavut was in support of the recommendation, however after holding public hearings and consulting community members across the territory Shewchuck has concluded that federal protection for the regions bears is unnecessary. A position supported by Nunavut aboriginal and hunting groups.

“I’ve heard from all the communities that they are seeing more polar bears and they feel that the population of polar bears is healthy in Nunavut and we saying that as a government,” said Shewchuk. “We do not think (bears) should be listed, period.”

Expert opinion is rejected

In contrast to government opinion the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, experts on the species, reported last summer that the number of decreasing polar bear populations has increased from five to eight since its 2005 report. The report showed three groups are stable and only one has increased in this time.

Shewchuck rejects the group’s findings arguing that too narrow a time line has been used in this research and said that the majority of scientific research agrees that polar bear numbers have increased since the 1970s.

“We do have challenges and concerns in the western Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay (populations), which we decreased the quotas on. But overall, we feel we have a very, very healthy population of polar bears.”

Threat from thinning sea ice

Recent estimations do indeed support the claim that polar bear numbers have not changed very much, hovering at between 20,000 and 25,000, however declining sea ice due to a warming climate is thought by scientists to be a very real threat to polar bears in the future. The bears require the thick sea ice as a platform from which to hunt and search for mates.

According to most recent data sea ice is projected to reach its lowest ever recorded level this September.

Shewchuck says he’s aware that many will accuse him to bowing to pressure from hunting groups however he asserts that he doesn’t care.

“That’s people outside,” he said. “If they want to come and live in Nunavut and speak with the people who live in Nunavut, then maybe I would consider their opinion.”