A couple of months ago I was interviewed by Evelyn Senyi about my experience as a volunteer for Polar Bears International. Below is the interview taken from her blog, The Green Ink Pot (http://evelynsenyi.wordpress.com/).
Polar Bears and Churchill – the real deal
A Conversation with Lenore Nadeau
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with one very lucky woman –
Lenore Nadeau – who has traveled to Churchill, Manitoba not once but
three times. She was able to share some of her experiences, impressions
and insights with me as to the state of polar bears in Churchill.
Q: I understand that you were able to travel to Churchill,
Manitoba to work with polar bears on three different visits; can you
talk a little bit about your time there?
A: My first time was in 2007 when I was working with WWF and we were
helping the biologists that are tracking polar bears through satellite
tracking collars. We spent three or four days in the town and one day
out with the researchers collaring bears. My second trip was in 2008
when I went up in association with Polar Bears International.
Q: How did you get involved with Polar Bears International?
A: That was through my work with WWF. Polar Bears International (PBI) is interested in conserving polar bears and their habitat world-wide
through research, stewardship and education. They are amazing in that
they have made many different partnerships to help them reach their goals. They work with the
eminent polar bear scientists, they have great partnerships
with the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums and other zoos in
Australia and Europe, and also work with other charitable groups like
WWF.
In 2008 PBI was interested in having someone from WWF go to their
arctic ambassador camp for teens and I was fortunate enough to be that person. We stayed out in a hotel for five days
where the wild bears were gathering, just snoozing outside your window.
It’s an amazing way to immerse these teens in this culture and
environment. We also had some elders from the Cree nation, who still
work the trap lines, come and talk to the students about their way of
life and how it is very different from the way of life in the south. The
camp not only exposes the teens to the issues that are happening in
Churchill and globally with climate change and obviously with the polar
bear, but it also exposes them to many other points of view. It’s a very
different way of life up there.
Once I started the relationship with PBI I always stayed in touch
with them even when I was no longer working with WWF. In 2010 they asked me to volunteer in Churchill for three weeks to help with bear
season. I basically just helped them with logistics and anything they
needed. But it was a really interesting role because I got to meet some
of the people that I had never met on my prior two trips from zoos all
across U.S. and Canada and some of the polar bear scientists.
Q: There is a big debate going on as to the health of the
polar bear population world-wide and specifically the Western Hudson Bay
population. What were your impressions of the health of that
population?
A: From just visually seeing them at that time of the year they are
skinnier anyways because they are fasting. The Western Hudson Bay
population, which are the Manitoba bears, has always been forced ashore
just based on the geographic area they live in so that’s not really the
issue. The extension of the off-ice period is now three weeks longer and
that’s the issue. So yes, I was seeing thinner bears my third trip then
I was on my first but I can’t say that is scientific. You only see a
number of bears and it’s really tough to say for certain.
Q: Do you think that the population is stable?
A: All the data says that the Western Hudson Bay population is
actually fairing the worst. The scientists maintain that unless major
changes are made we will lose certain populations.
Q: A lot of money is being spent on what’s being termed
“conservation efforts” by WWF, PBI, Greenpeace and a lot of other
organizations. How do you think that money is translating into actual
help for the polar bears?
A: That’s a tough question because it depends on the organization
that’s spending the money. Everyone has different efforts that they are
working on. I think where PBI has had a lot of success is in their
partnerships; they have access to the wild researchers, relationships
with zoos and other like-minded organizations so their efforts to
educate the general public with this information has spread. I think you
need to educate people and inspire them to take action. It’s at the
next level up where I think we are getting stuck, with the bigger
picture conservation. I don’t want to give the impression that I believe
that conservation efforts have failed because obviously I wouldn’t do
what I do if I believed that. I think we have been successful in getting
the word out, on some protection efforts and in research. But as far as
going farther towards greater protection it hasn’t really gotten to the
level it needs to get.
Q: Then do you think the polar bear should be listed as a species at risk?
A: The U.S. has listed them as a threatened species, Canada has not
done that. Canada is a bit more complicated because we have aboriginal
people who still hunt polar bears and that’s their recognized cultural right. If the polar bear were to be listed in Canada in any sort of
category that meant no more hunting then we would potentially be taking
away those cultural rights. On the other hand, we may
get to a point where polar bear numbers are too low to sustain even
subsistence hunting.
Q: So you support aboriginal subsistence hunting?
A: I support subsistence hunting, yes. People who live in the arctic don’t
have the same kinds of things we have here, they live off the land and
use the resources that the planet gives them.
Q: There is a lot of money and attention being paid on the
polar bear and a lot of people would argue that while they may become
endangered in the future due to climate change, there are other species
that are disappearing at a much faster rate and are far more endangered,
say amphibians for example, for which not enough attention is being
paid. Where do you think our conservation dollars dollar should be
spent?
A: That’s a tough question for me to answer. I’m a huge advocate of
conserving all wildlife because my belief is that every single species
that lives on this planet has a place and if it’s taken
out of the ecosystem it throws everything off balance. I don’t think
that any conservation dollars we spend are a waste. The way that
PBI frames their work in the arctic is that by protecting the polar
bear, this iconic mega fauna, they will protect its habitat and
everything else that lives in it. So you hope that by taking one animal
and making it the iconic species for whatever that cause is that even
the smallest microorganism that lives in that ecosystem will be
protected if their habitat is protected.
Lenore Nadeau has worked in conservation for over ten years with
organizations such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada, Ontario Nature
and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. She is also a long-time
volunteer with the Toronto Zoo and Polar Bears International (PBI).
For more information on Polar Bears International please visit their website: www.polarbearsinternational.org
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