TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 01/12/09 -- 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.