Between September 10-12 The Second Polar Law Symposium 2009 Will be held at the University of Akureyri Iceland to present and debate current legal challenges in the polar regions. The First Polar Law symposium was held September 7-10 2008 and brought together several of the world’s leading Polar lawyers and senior scientists and coincided with the launch of a new Masters program in Polar Law at the University of Akureyri.
The symposium gathered over 60 participants, from a variety of institutions including distinguished guests Dr. Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions at the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), and President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Republic of Iceland.
The symposium was divided into four themes, which addressed the legal challenges of protecting polar UNAK Lake Myvatn biodiversity, improving sustainable development in the North, re-evaluating environmental governance and questions surrounding emerging jurisdictional claims in the Polar Regions. One particular concern for researchers was the need for developing a new legal framework to address the Arctic environment. The Symposium was regarded as a success and the upcoming symposium can be expected to be similarly interesting. This years theme will be
- Theme I: New Shipping Routes and Environmental Implications for the Polar Regions
- Theme II: Effective Environmental Governance
- Theme III: The Exploration and Exploitation of Resources
It is clear that this years symposium will be just as exiting as last years and will coincide with a APECS meeting held in connection with the conference. The full schedule of the conference can be downloaded here and further questions addressed to Dr. Natalia Loukacheva natalial@unak.is
The travelling pattern of the Blue Whale is characterized by rapid sprints, while it can dwell in restricted areas for several days, most likely for food gathering.
coloration year round.
The Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) is the most northern distributed freshwater fish, and part of the small group of salmonid fishes (i.e., salmons, trouts, whitefishes). Chars are a significant component of aquatic and near shore marine ecosystems in the Arctic. Often the only freshwater fish available, they play a major role for the subsistence of local people who fish returning upstream migrants of sea-run char in late summer and early autumn. Arctic Chars are threatened by a wide range of impacts ranging from local exploitation and habitat fragmentation and degradation mostly through oil and gas development, to widespread and pervasive impacts such as climate change and atmospheric contaminant deposition. Moreover, pervasive threats such as climate change affect Arctic aquatic ecosystems in a dramatic way, clearly having a huge impact on its most sensitive ecosystem components. Yet, many aspects of ecological roles of chars are still unknown at present for most northern ecosystems. Clearly, the integrity and continued health and viability of northern aquatic ecosystems are intimately connected to the biodiversity of chars present in those systems.
Arctic habitats and are an extremely valuable component of Arctic biodiversity and cultural identity of many northern peoples. Caribous are the only member of the deer family where both males and females grow antlers. Pregnant females will retain their antlers until after calving, allowing them to dominate the social hierarchy in late winter. During deep snow years, caribou will move in search of more favorable snow conditions, as more energy is expended digging to the lichens than is derived from feeding. Reindeer and Caribou are a vulnerable yet crucial source of income from Arctic terrestrial ecosystems for northern peoples. Close monitoring of these wild and domestic Rangifer populations is vital in assessing the impact of climate change.
Gray wolves (Canis lupus arctos) currently number about 150,000 worldwide. Some 80% live in the circumpolar countries, although the number actually living in the Arctic is unknown. Canada has the most wolves of any arctic country, with some 50,000 to 63,000 animals inhabiting about 86% of their historical range. About 16,000 of the wolves live north of 60°N. Most of these Arctic populations are considered stable and not at risk. While wolves are abundant in Alaska, northern Canada, and Russia, local overharvests may occur. Habitat loss continues to be a concern for wolf conservation, especially in areas with recovering wolf populations. Wolves are regarded by many as a nuisance species, hampering thus management and recovery plans. The challenge continues to be the development and public acceptance of a flexible conservation plan that accommodates wolves in wilderness, but allows for local conflict management.
spite of an early discovery the Ivory Gull still remains one of the most poorly known seabird species in the world. There is growing concern in the circumpolar Arctic that the Ivory Gull may be in decline. The most recent information on population trend of Ivory Gulls exists for Canada, Svalbard and Russia. In Canada, the Ivory Gull has a highly restricted range, breeding exclusively in Nunavut Territory. Recent surveys in Svalbard suggest that only a few of the known colonies are still being used there and that the total population is smaller than previously estimated. Information obtained currently on Russian breeding grounds indicate stable populations breeding at some key colonies, although considerable annual fluctuations in numbers of breeding birds occurs. The Ivory Gull has been protected in West Greenland since 1977 under the Greenland Home Rule Order of 5 May 1988 concerning the protection of birds in Greenland. In Svalbard, it has been protected since 1978, under the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. In Russia, it was listed in the Red Data Book of the USSR (1984) and now is registered as a Category 3 (Rare) species in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation.
Expedition of 1872-74. Weyprecht realised that a comprehensive polar research could not be a task of one nation only, but should involve a coordinated international effort. He recognized that a time of mere geographical discovery had past and a series of coordinated expeditions dedicated to scientific research should be undertaken to further peoples understanding on fundamentals of meteorology and geophysics. Unfortunately, he died before the international research became a reality, but his inspiration led to an establishment of the largest coordinated series of scientific expeditions ever undertaken in the Arctic during the 19th century, or to what is now known as the First International Polar Year.
The latest International Polar Year, organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), took place in 2007-2008. It was gigantic international multidisciplinary collaborative with around 10 000 scientists and 50 000 other participants from over 60 countries. Main objectives of this megaproject were to significantly increase the scientific knowledge and understanding of the polar areas, especially the wide-ranging and significant impacts of climate warming in the Arctic and Antarctic, and to conduct research projects beyond the resources of individual countries. In addition, the Polar Year aimed at educating a new generation of polar scientists and engineers and raise awareness of the public and policymakers of the importance of the polar areas for the entire planet. The disciplinary breadth of the third IPY far exceeded the previous Polar Years of 1882, 1932 and the 1957 IGY providing more comprehensive picture of the polar areas.
Currently there seems to be a consensus that all of these activities will increase further and that trans arctic shipping will become a reality, that it is just a matter of time. There are nonetheless significant challenges, and issues that need to be analyzed and dealt with to prevent environmental disasters and ensure the safety of seafarers. It is clear that the benefits of these activities can be significant, but the environmental hazards are numerous as well. Infrastructure and safety measures are lacking and need to be addressed. There is an ongoing debate if there is a need for mandatory regulations by the IMO. The jurisdiction over the waterway is also disputed most prominently between the U.S and Canada.
their own culture and language were weakened intentionally. Due to the assimilation process along with the decline of indigenous inhabitants, many of the languages were about to extinct when the international indigenous movement emerged in the beginning of the 1970’s. The dominant languages in the Arctic today are Russian, English and Scandinavian languages, all which have been introduced to the Arctic inhabitants by a colonial power. However, in the recent years the indigenous languages have gained stronger status within the Arctic states either as protected cultural heritage or as an official language.
In Greenland, along with the establishment of the Greenland Self-Government in June this year, the Inuktitut became the only official language, Danish having being another official language in Greenland since 1950’s.
The IWC has since the late 1970s been dominated by countries largely opposed to commercial whaling. Since 1986 there has been a moratorium on whaling, functioning as an all out ban on commercial whaling with an exemption of indigenous subsistence whaling and whaling for scientific purposes. This decision was not based on advice from the Scientific Committee ( an advisory committee within the IWC) and has been disputed by pro whaling nations ever since.
Under the chairmanship of William Hogarth, compromise talks began formally a year ago but have yielded little results so far, as nations have taken a strong stances and have not been willing to budge an inch making negotiations futile.
