Conserving our Future Arctic
The world’s first and most tangible impact of climate change is the loss of Arctic sea ice. Northern communities and species are already at risk. Canada’s global leadership role in the Arctic will be our generation’s single most important legacy to the world.
Canada is home to over a quarter of the world’s Arctic lands and waters. Over 70% of the world’s polar bears live here. The Canadian Arctic is administered by Inuit governments thanks to progressive land claim agreements signed in the last thirty years. Inuit communities still subsist on caribou, polar bear, musk oxen and ringed seals as they have for centuries.
Our nation’s challenge is to conserve species and ecosystems in a rapidly warming Arctic while ensuring local communities remain viable in the face of climate change.
© Paul Nicklen / National Geographic Stock / WWF-Canada
Canada is home to over a quarter of the world’s Arctic lands and waters. Over 70% of the world’s polar bears live here. The Canadian Arctic is administered by Inuit governments thanks to progressive land claim agreements signed in the last thirty years. Inuit communities still subsist on caribou, polar bear, musk oxen and ringed seals as they have for centuries.
Arctic Resources
Our Arctic is also rich in resources. About a quarter of the world’s remaining petroleum resources are found in the circumpolar Arctic with the richest potential in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Deposits of gold, silver, lead, tin, uranium, copper and zinc can be found throughout our Arctic archipelago. These resources are all becoming more accessible given the rapidly melting sea ice and modern ship-building technology. The rush is not on but a trickle is underway.Our nation’s challenge is to conserve species and ecosystems in a rapidly warming Arctic while ensuring local communities remain viable in the face of climate change.
© Paul Nicklen / National Geographic Stock / WWF-Canada
Learn more at iCoke.ca
Your donation could make twice the difference! This holiday season, Coca-Cola® is matching your donation up to $1 million USD to help protect the polar bear’s home! Learn more at iCoke.ca
WWF's Work
WWF envisions an Arctic protected and adapting to climate change. WWF-Canada hosts WWF’s international Arctic program in Ottawa Ontario. Arctic program staff are located in Oslo, Norway and Gland Switzerland with field operations in Alaska, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway and, soon, Greenland. Within Canada, and internationally, WWF pursues three distinct objectives:- Promoting international governance solutions that set consistent high standards for governments and industry needed to safeguard the Arctic.
- Creating a science-based conservation blueprint of what needs to be conserved across the Arctic if species are to survive through this century.
- Partnering with responsible industry leaders to demonstrate how shipping, fishing, oil and gas development, and mining can take place in the Arctic, benefit local communities while respecting and reinforcing the integrity of Arctic ecosystems already under siege from climatic change.
© Kevin SCHAFER / WWF-Canon
Global Warming, Harsher Winters
In the future, cold and snowy winters could be the rule rather than the exception in parts of North America, Europe and Asia as the Arctic Ocean warms up.Read findings from the International Polar Year's Oslo Science Conference.
Narwhal in Nunavut, Canada
Tracking Narwhal
WWF-Canada worked with a 15-person field crew to fit satellite tags to 7 narwhal in the region of North Baffin Island, Canada.
Fitting a satellite radio collar on a polar bear
Tracking Polar Bears
Follow five satellite-collared polar bears as they navigate the sea ice on the Hudson Bay this winter.
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A Panda was spotted in Paulatuk
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Arctic Report: Update for 2010
Arctic Report Card 2010
Issued annually, the Arctic Report Card is a timely source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the state of the Arctic. Watch the report now.
Drilling Disaster
One year ago, the world watched in horror as 4.9 million barrels of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico. A Canadian spill would be even worse. Learn more.