LETTER TO THE BEAR FRIENDS

Ice or the absence of ice dominates all life in the ARCTIC. Ice comes as a frozen ocean and is a supplier for the whole food chain.

Now global warming and other human interference with ecosystems have brought new threats to the ice sheet and all that rely on it.

Animals and birds migrate, fish stocks dwindle, biodiversity is lost, waters warm up and grow polluted due to human activity. It becomes evident that no solution to arctic waters could be found without addressing the degradation of the great rivers that drain into it, Ob, Yenissei, Lena, Mackenzie. These fresh water bodies are highly exposed to urban development, industrialization, resource exploration and exploitation, shipping.

As a predator, the POLAR BEAR stands on the top of the arctic food chain and is highly exposed to chemical pollution. The decline of marine ecosystems, worse their ecological collapse is on his way.

As environment is not just an object of study, but also a space to share between man and wildlife, the need to cultivate ecological values and develop an ecological consciousness is becoming more and more urgent.

BEAR FRIENDS, like polar pilgrims, think there is also the need for generating practical initiatives, supporting on-going efforts and the application of lessons learned from the past.

One of the aims of BEAR FRIENDS is to develop ethical codes of conduct for human behavior and environmental action. We know about the tipping points, and yet we ignore the warnings.

Not only the POLAR BEARS, also the future of people is threatened by the loss of the precious ice and his reflective whiteness. Man must work in harmony with his environment if the Arctic is to be safeguarded.