started the preparations for a Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG). The PBSG held
its first official meeting in Morges, Switzerland, in 1968. Compared to the meeting of
1965 in Alaska, the first PBSG gathering was merely attended by 12 delegates, none
of which were from Denmark (for reasons unknown). The meeting did not produce
official proceedings since many of the issues discussed were considered confidential,
once again reflecting the difficult geopolitical situation at hand. These referred
particularly to issues relating to international waters and country delegates wanted
to have open discussions without running into potential troubles afterwards.
One of the crucial disagreements in the meeting was the question of how to
handle the polar bear population: is it scientifically justifiable to consider it as one
circumpolar population? Or are there discrete individual populations? This question
alone unveiled the significant lack of data on polar bears as well as different
assessment methods, both of which would make the establishment of a management
plan difficult. After all, it was particularly the Soviet Union which argued that polar
bears should be considered as one circum-Arctic population. Agreement was
reached on the finding, however, that the numbers of polar bears were going
down. In the Soviet Union, polar bear hunts had been prohibited already since
1956 and its representatives also requested the other nations to put in place a total
ban on polar bear hunts. Since in Canada, the US and Greenland polar bears had
played an important socio-economic role for the indigenous populations, a total ban
on polar bear hunting could not be achieved. But it was clear already during the 1968
meeting that some form of agreement had to be reached.
The first meeting of the PBSG was, however, a success in a different way it was
agreed that regular meetings were supposed to take place every 2 years. In 1970,
therefore, the PBSG came together again in order to further advance the cooperation
on polar bear research. By then, bi- and multilateral research efforts had already been
launched and polar bear research cooperation was ongoing between Canada,
Norway, the US and Denmark. Although research cooperation with the Soviet
Union did not prove to be successful, the 1968 meeting nevertheless succeeded in
agreeing on the standardisation of research methods, which enabled the 1970
meeting to present streamlined results. Particularly the tagging technique brought
clarity to the question of whether or not the polar bear population actually consists of
several smaller populations: by 1970 it had become clear that there were at least five
distinct polar bear populations, in Spitsbergen-Franz Josef Land-East Greenland
region; in the Hudson Bay region in Canada; the high Canadian Arctic; the high
Canada-eastern Alaska region; and the western Alaska-eastern Soviet Union region.
With this finding, a main obstacle as to the nature of a potential polar bear agreement
was out of the way.
The main difference between the first meeting in 1965 and the subsequent PBSG
meeting was that the PBSG was operating under the IUCN and thus delegates were
not under instructions from their respective national governments. This provided for
a much more open and less geopolitically influenced stage for negotiations. Additionally, the polar bear specialists themselves had good relations with ministries and
decision-makers on a governmental level, particularly in Norway and Canada. To
advance the fruitful discussions and finally reach consensus on an agreement, the
7.2 The Origins of the Polar Bear Agreement
159
its first official meeting in Morges, Switzerland, in 1968. Compared to the meeting of
1965 in Alaska, the first PBSG gathering was merely attended by 12 delegates, none
of which were from Denmark (for reasons unknown). The meeting did not produce
official proceedings since many of the issues discussed were considered confidential,
once again reflecting the difficult geopolitical situation at hand. These referred
particularly to issues relating to international waters and country delegates wanted
to have open discussions without running into potential troubles afterwards.
One of the crucial disagreements in the meeting was the question of how to
handle the polar bear population: is it scientifically justifiable to consider it as one
circumpolar population? Or are there discrete individual populations? This question
alone unveiled the significant lack of data on polar bears as well as different
assessment methods, both of which would make the establishment of a management
plan difficult. After all, it was particularly the Soviet Union which argued that polar
bears should be considered as one circum-Arctic population. Agreement was
reached on the finding, however, that the numbers of polar bears were going
down. In the Soviet Union, polar bear hunts had been prohibited already since
1956 and its representatives also requested the other nations to put in place a total
ban on polar bear hunts. Since in Canada, the US and Greenland polar bears had
played an important socio-economic role for the indigenous populations, a total ban
on polar bear hunting could not be achieved. But it was clear already during the 1968
meeting that some form of agreement had to be reached.
The first meeting of the PBSG was, however, a success in a different way it was
agreed that regular meetings were supposed to take place every 2 years. In 1970,
therefore, the PBSG came together again in order to further advance the cooperation
on polar bear research. By then, bi- and multilateral research efforts had already been
launched and polar bear research cooperation was ongoing between Canada,
Norway, the US and Denmark. Although research cooperation with the Soviet
Union did not prove to be successful, the 1968 meeting nevertheless succeeded in
agreeing on the standardisation of research methods, which enabled the 1970
meeting to present streamlined results. Particularly the tagging technique brought
clarity to the question of whether or not the polar bear population actually consists of
several smaller populations: by 1970 it had become clear that there were at least five
distinct polar bear populations, in Spitsbergen-Franz Josef Land-East Greenland
region; in the Hudson Bay region in Canada; the high Canadian Arctic; the high
Canada-eastern Alaska region; and the western Alaska-eastern Soviet Union region.
With this finding, a main obstacle as to the nature of a potential polar bear agreement
was out of the way.
The main difference between the first meeting in 1965 and the subsequent PBSG
meeting was that the PBSG was operating under the IUCN and thus delegates were
not under instructions from their respective national governments. This provided for
a much more open and less geopolitically influenced stage for negotiations. Additionally, the polar bear specialists themselves had good relations with ministries and
decision-makers on a governmental level, particularly in Norway and Canada. To
advance the fruitful discussions and finally reach consensus on an agreement, the
7.2 The Origins of the Polar Bear Agreement
159