Module 7: International Stewardship Initiatives

Premises

• Most environmental issues in the Arctic are international in nature. Why??

• Multidisciplinary efforts

• The duality of knowledge: scientific and traditional

Concepts

Environmental Stewardship

• Long-term management aimed at preserving and enhancing the quality of an environment, including the biodiversity

• Capture the ideas of “caretaking”, “protection of natural systems”, and “sustainability”

Food for Thought

• Why does stewardship matter so much for people in the North?“When people obtain their food from the wild, as

they do in the Arctic, their health is directly linked to the condition of the land and the animals”

• From course material of Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies 312

• In the Arctic, people own land “in common”

Readings

• Box 7.1: One example of stewardship (handout)

• Box 27 (textbook): Threats to Arctic biodiversity

Traditional Knowledge vs. Scientific Knowledge

• A clash of knowledge systems, or an added value for environmental stewardship

Concepts

Traditional Knowledge• A cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs

handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living things (including humans) with one another and with their environment. TK is an attribute of societies with historical continuity in resource use practices

Key aspects:• Holistic• May include beliefs• May include mythology

Concepts

Scientific knowledge

• New knowledge predicated upon physical evidence based on observations and experiments

Scientific Method

• Fundamental to the investigation and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence

• Use of observations, hypotheses, and logic to propose explanations for natural phenomena in the form of theories

• Unprejudiced experiments can be repeated by any researcher

Scientific Method

1) Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.

2) Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena.

3) Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.

4) Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment/observation.

Stewardship and Risk

• Long-term stewardship of lands and biodiversity is essentially RISK MANAGEMENT

• Risk management is a delicate mix of science, legislation, and politics (within and among jurisdictions)

• Risk assessment is ideally a knowledge based process; however risk management always involves interpretation of data, economics, and politics

Case StudyArctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme

AMAP

http://amap.no • An international effort to assess risks and pollution level

of Arctic environments (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, USA)

• Key reports– 1998, Arctic Pollution Issues– 2002, A State of the Arctic Environment– 2003, Human Health in the Arctic– 2004, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Arctic

AMAP

Conclusion:

• Arctic is at risk

• Some species (e.g. gulls, polar bears) are already affected to varying degrees

• Some POPs, radionuclides, and lead are declining in Arctic biota

• Some POPs (new ones) and mercury are on the rise

Dilemma of Policy-Makers

• Policy-makers work in law, where “proof” is an ideal

• Science provides evidence – not proof• Despite the accumulation of voluminous

evidence, decision makers are at times dissuaded from action by a lack of “proof”

• The precautionary principle – better safe than sorry – was developed in response to this fundamental dilemma in environmental policy-making

Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (1991)

• International effort• Objectives:

– Protect the Arctic ecosystem– Protection, enhancement and restoration of natural

resources– To recognize and accommodate the traditional and

cultural needs, values and practices of the indigenous peoples

– Review the state of the Arctic– Identify, reduce, and ultimately eliminate pollution

Arctic Council

SDWG AMAP PAME CAFF EPPR

Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy

Five Working Groups of the Arctic Council

•Sustainable Development Working Group

•Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme

•Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment

•Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna

•Emergency, Prevention, Preparedness and Response

Reading

Improving regional governance and democratic processes

Focus:

• Regional cooperation

• A forum for governments and indigenous people

Species Survival Commission (SSC)

www.iucn.org• World’s greatest source of information about

species and their conservation needs• A network of some 7000 members dedicated to

stop the loss of plants, animals and their habitats• 120 Specialist Groups and Task Forces• SSC is the largest of the 6 commissions of IUCN

– the World Conservation Union

What does SSC do?

• Produces the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

• Provides technical and scientific advice

• Publishes Species Action Plans and Policy Guidelines

• Implements on-ground conservation projects

Take Home Messages

1. Protection and management of Arctic ecosystems is more than science. It is a mix of science, politics, economics, etc.

2. Cooperation is key in Arctic environment (Why?)

3. Dual knowledge base