Arctic biodiversity – for the good of the people

STAKEHOLDER’S PERSPECTIVE

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The Arctic ice is melting and it is having a profound impact on the Arctic. The melting sea ice makes the Arctic Ocean more accessible for ships and other human activities, but the thawing of the tundra makes it more difficult to travel on land. As a parliamentarian living in the Arctic, I am concerned about the consequences of this. What will a higher temperature entail for the forestry sector in our countries and for the Arctic fauna? How will warmer water and a greater human presence influence the fisheries and the living resources in the Arctic Ocean?

The people living in the Arctic have always been the main focus of Arctic parliamentary cooperation. How the people are affected and how we can help them to adapt to a warmer climate have both been high on our agenda. We do, however, also recognize that what happens to our natural environment is closely linked to how the people are affected by climate change.

Climate change has been a pivotal issue for Arctic parliamentary cooperation. We know that the Arctic climate is changing, and that nature and living conditions for the Arctic peoples are changing as a result of this. The Arctic Parliamentary Conference held in Brussels in September 2010 decided to support the drafting of a Second Arctic Human Development Report that covers Arctic societies and their welfare in a global context.

To many Northerners, fishing and hunting are important elements of their identity and way of life. To a large extent, job

80 PROTECTING ARCTIC BIODIVERSITY Hannes Manninen Member of Parliament (Finland), and Chair of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR)

opportunities in the North are based on natural resources, and the use of these vast resources will be important in the future economy of the North. The Indigenous Peoples living in the Arctic are closely linked to their natural environment through their traditional lifestyles, as subsistence hunters or reindeer herders.

What happens to the flora and fauna in a changing climate and what does that mean for the people living in the Arctic? What happens when habitats change and – perhaps even more important – how does increased human activity influence the ecosystems in the Arctic?

At present, we don’t have sufficient knowledge about these processes. The Arctic parliamentarians support the work of