Scientific Advisory Body to the Polar Bear Range States
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Polar Bear Specialist Group (IUCN’s PBSG) is the Scientific Advisory Body to the Polar Bear Range States.
Concern among the circumpolar nations about declining polar bear populations and lack of scientific knowledge to effectively manage them led the United States to organize the First International Scientific Meeting on the Polar Bear in Fairbanks, Alaska, in September 1965. In the absence of reliable data (e.g., population estimates, movement and migratory patterns, range and discreteness, denning areas, harvests), participants agreed that each nation should conduct a research program to obtain adequate scientific information for effective management of the species and then exchange and disseminate the resulting research and management information. This forum was subsequently officially established as the Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), which first met in 1968. The authoritative source of scientific information on the world’s polar bears, the PBSG is one of more than 100 International Union for Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) specialist groups that work to produce and compile scientific knowledge about the world’s species and that provide independent scientific advice to decision makers and management authorities.
Terms of reference for the PBSG's role as scientific advisors to the Polar Bear Range States was adopted at the Polar Bear Range States 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Parties.
For additional information about the PBSG, please visit their website.
Source: Circumpolar Action Plan
