Description

Part II of Russia’s Polar Bear Research Report

Belikov S.E. All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection

Gnedenko A.E. Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Glazov D.M. Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The work conducted from 2023 to 2025 by the All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection, in collaboration with other scientific institutions, including the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was part of a comprehensive study and monitoring of polar bear subpopulations in the Russian Arctic. The goal of the study was to obtain up-to-date data on the status of these subpopulations to improve conservation and management measures.

In the Russian Arctic, the following key factors of anthropogenic impact on polar bears and their habitats are identified:

- Hydrocarbon development on the Arctic shelf.

- Intensification of the Northern Sea Route.

- Infrastructure development on the mainland coast and islands.

To minimize these factors, we considered mechanisms for maintaining the ecological balance of the ecosystems inhabited by polar bears. Various territorial and non-territorial (functional) conservation measures are used for the ecosystems inhabited by polar bear subpopulations. In the Russian Arctic, territorial protection of polar bears and their main prey - ringed seals, bearded seals, and walruses - is implemented both in federal, regional, and locally designated specially protected natural areas (SPNAs), as well as outside of these SPNAs. Some Arctic SPNAs encompass not only land but also marine waters, which contributes to the protection of marine ecosystems and the organisms inhabiting them, including these species. Areas with varying occurrences of these species outside of SPNAs have been identified (observation period 1952-2022), and a set of practical measures for actively managing anthropogenic impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems in areas of increased occurrence, which we consider to be of particular ecological significance, have been recommended.

At the request of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, the All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection is collecting and compiling a database of conflict situations involving polar bears. The aim of the study is to identify methods for more effectively managing conflicts and minimizing the risk of injury or death to both humans and polar bears. Areas with the highest number of human-polar bear conflicts in 2025 have been identified.

The All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection is conducting modeling and mapping studies to identify potentially suitable habitats for breeding female polar bears to establish dens on islands and in the coastal zone of the Russian Arctic. From 2023 to 2025, this study was conducted on the Novaya Zemlya and New Siberian Islands archipelagos. Recommendations have been developed to reduce potential negative anthropogenic impacts on these habitats.