Bowie Seamount designated as Canada’s seventh Marine Protected Area

22 Apr 2008

After many years working with partners on the conservation of Bowie Seamount in the northeast Pacific, WWF-Canada celebrated the official designation of the site as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) on April 17.  This is an example of how collaboration between governments, First Nations, communities, resource users and environmental organizations can lead to significant conservation gains.

Bowie Seamount, located 180 kilometres west of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) off the coast of British Columbia, is one of the few seamounts in the world that is completely within a country's jurisdiction, giving Canada a unique opportunity to protect it.

Seamounts are rich, marine treasures that are particularly vulnerable to over exploitation. Yet, seamounts are under represented in global sets of Marine Protected Areas as most are outside territorial waters. 

“Bowie Seamount is an oceanic oasis in the deep sea, a rare and ecologically rich marine area, and our government is proud to take action to ensure it is protected,” said Gary Lunn, Canda's Minister of Natural Resources. “By working in partnership with the Council of the Haida Nation and groups like  WWF-Canada, we are ensuring this unique treasure is preserved for future generations.”

A network of MPAs on the Pacific Coast is a vital part of an integrated approach to caring for our oceans and building a sustainable future for our marine resources, and the communities that depend on them.

“For many years, WWF-Canada has been working with partners to protect this unique seamount chain,” said Michele Patterson, Director of the Pacific Conservation Program for WWF-Canada. “The designation of the Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area is an excellent example of how conservation can be achieved by Federal and First Nations governments, resource users, and environmental organizations working together to protect important marine habitats both for today, and for our children tomorrow. We look forward to many more of these conservation successes in Canada.”

The Haida have long recognized this area as a special place and named it Sgaan Kinghlas, meaning Supernatural Being Looking Outward. The new MPA will protect a complex of three offshore seamounts – Bowie, Hodgkins and Davidson Seamounts.

Bowie Seamount is one of the most biologically rich seamounts in the Northeast Pacific, due to unique oceanographic conditions that support an abundance of microscopic plants and animals, which, in turn,have contributed to Bowie’s diverse, complex ecosystem. It is fragile and vulnerable, however, and protecting it will contribute to its continued survival and that of its marine community.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada will work together with the Haida Nation, WWF-Canada, community groups and an advisory team, including the province, to effectively manage Bowie Seamount under Canada’s Federal Marine Protected Areas Strategy, and preserve the health of Canada’s oceans and marine environment.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Melissa Tupper
Communications Specialist
WWF-Canada
Direct: (604) 694-6652
Mobile: (778) 835-2966
mtupper@wwfcanada.org

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Arctic sea ice at lowest level ever

15 Sep 2008

Arctic sea ice may well have reached its lowest volumes ever, as summer ice coverage of the Arctic Sea looks set to be close to last year’s record lows, with thinner ice overall.

Final figures on minimum ice coverage for 2008 are expected in a matter of days, but they are already flirting with last year’s record low of 1.59 million square miles, or 4.13 million square kilometres.

“If you take reduced ice thickness into account, there is probably less ice overall in the Arctic this year than in any other year since monitoring began,” said Martin Sommerkorn, WWF International Arctic Programme’s Senior Climate Change Advisor.

“This is also the first year that the Northwest Passage over the top of North America, and the Northeast Passage over the top of Russia are both free of ice.”

Dr. Sommerkorn said the continuing loss of older, thicker ice means that the Arctic ice cover is following a trend of becoming younger and thinner each year.

The area of ice that is at least five years old has decreased by 56 per cent between 1985 and 2007. The oldest ice types have essentially disappeared.

Taken together, the new figures clearly show the Arctic is experiencing the continuation of an accelerated declining trend.

“We are expecting confirmation of 2008 being either the lowest or the second-lowest year in terms of summer ice coverage,” Dr. Sommerkorn said.

“This means two years in a row of record lows since we started recording Arctic sea ice coverage, and a continuing catastrophic downward trend.

“There are already signs that species such as polar bears are experiencing negative effects as climate change erodes the ice platform on which they rely.

These changes are also affecting the peoples of the Arctic whose traditional livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems.”

The trend of melting Arctic ice is also alarming for the rest of the world. “The Arctic is a key factor in stabilising the global climate,” Dr Sommerkorn said.

“Arctic ice is like a mirror, reflecting the sun’s heat back into space. As that ice goes, Arctic waters absorb more heat, adding to global warming.

“The local warming of the Arctic will also soon release more greenhouse gases from the Arctic that were previously locked in permanently frozen ground.

“This means there will be two powerful feedbacks from the Arctic affecting the global environment. This is not just an Arctic problem, it is a global problem, and it demands a global response.”

The governments of the world are currently negotiating a new climate agreement to come into force from 2013 when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol has ended.

“Governments must speed up these talks and ensure to agree the new climate deal at the UN Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, just fifteen months from now, Dr Sommerkorn said.

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