" YOU can help make a difference, get involved... "
PCO Press Room
Sponsors
Past Events
COP15
Link to PCO
Nunavut urges against Polar bear ban
last update: Mar 04, 2010 10:46 AM
From a "CBC News" article: Daniel Shewchuk, Environment Minister of Nunavut is asking leaders around the world to vote against a U.S. proposal that would ban the global commercial trade of products derived from Polar bears.
175 countries have signed the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and Mr Shewchuk, whose government objects to the proposed trade ban, has written to all of them as they prepare to vote on the U.S. proposal later this month in Doha, Qatar.
Nunavut is arguing that the Polar bear populations in the North are not in danger of extinction and Mr Shewchuk told reporters in Iqaluit "We have related our position through Environment Canada and the rest of the country, but I have also personally written a letter to all 175 countries on this issue. I explained how our management of polar bears does work and how important it is and how we feel that there is a very healthy population of polar bears in Nunavut."
The Polar bear is currently listed as a less severe Appendix Two species under CITES but the United States is calling for the Polar bear to be reclassified as an Appendix One species, meaning that species would be considered to be threatened with extinction. This reclassification to Appendix One would effectively ban all commercial sale of products derived from the animals.
Read more:
CBC News, 3. March 2010
