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7 key areas in the Arctic Ocean have been identified for Unesco World Heritage Site designation, in a new report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC).

The report, supported by WWF, identifies seven areas in the Arctic that should be considered based on their natural values: the Last Ice Area, the Bering Strait, Baffin Bay, Scoresby Sound polynya, the High Arctic archipelagos, Disko Bay, Store Hellefiskebanke and the Great Siberian polynya.

Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, said:

“The Arctic Ocean plays a crucial role in shaping global climate and hosts a diverse range of species, many of them threatened. The World Heritage Convention has great potential to increase global recognition and protection of the region’s most exceptional habitats.”

One of the 7 key sites identified in the report is the so-called ‘Last Ice Area’which stretches between north-east Canada and north Greenland (see map). Summer sea ice is predicted by scientists to last longer here than elsewhere in the Arctic.

Last year, Prime Minister Trudeau committed to “explore how to support and protect the future of the Arctic Ocean’s “last ice area” where summer ice remains each year.”

Rod Downie, WWF Polar Programme Manager, said:

“This report highlights the need to conserve areas of local, national and international significance, including Last Ice Area.  In a warming world with sea ice in rapid decline, the Last Ice Area will become critically important for the Arctic’s ice-dependent wildlife, including polar bears, narwhal, seals, walrus, and beluga and bowhead whales.

“Conservation is struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of change which we are witnessing in the Arctic. There isn’t much time so we need to chart a future now for these important places to ensure that they can function as a reservoir for animals such as polar bears and narwhals whose homes are melting away.”

WWF first identified the need to create an Arctic Ice protected area in 2008 and has been working toward protecting this Last Ice Area ever since.

The report is available at https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/46678

For more information please contact - Jonathan Jones | jjones@wwf.org.uk | +44 (0)1483 412241 | M: +44 (0)7824 416735

Photos available for use - http://hive.panda.org/Share/027y5f80031663trx6k8632yw608p5iq   

About WWF - WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. WWF has been active in Nepal since the 1960s and remains committed to the vital work being done in the region to save its unique and irreplaceable biodiversity.

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Last Ice Area - http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/last_ice_area/