???Photo credit: Sybille Klenzendorf

In 2009, the Representatives to the Parties of the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (the Agreement) recognized the need to address increasing human-polar bear interactions resulting from expanding human activities in the Arctic and a continued increase in the number of bears on land due to retreating sea ice. The Polar Bear Range States Conflict Working Group (CWG) was convened to address this issue. The initial focus of this group was to develop and implement a shared data collection and analysis system to document, quantify, and evaluate data on human-bear interactions and other information relevant to bear management – now known as the Polar Bear Human Information Management System (PBHIMS). Going forward, the CWG will continue to provide international coordination and expert advice to the Parties and their Representatives on all aspects of human-polar bear conflict management, in support of achieving the goals of the Agreement.

 

 

 


 

Human-Polar Bear Conflict WG general information: