Polar Bear

IV. Conservation Management Strategy
Conduct strategic monitoring and research
This section focuses on strategic monitoring to
evaluate the effectiveness of this Plan. Areas of
research are identified and more details are provided
in Appendix B. The monitoring actions identified
at this time are those possible with available knowledge
and tools, for example animal tracking using
collars or tags. Investment in additional research
is essential to improve our knowledge and identify
additional more effective and efficient (and less
invasive) methods for monitoring population status
and the effectiveness of our actions. This work
requires active engagement of current and new
partners in research activities including Universities,
other Federal, State, and local agencies, along
with industry and non-governmental entities.
The fundamental goals, demographic criteria, and
threats-based criteria described above clearly
state the needs for conservation and recovery, and
represent the best interpretation of available policy
guidance and scientific evidence. To address the
remaining uncertainties in the policy interpretations
and scientific evidence, an adaptive management
plan for updating and revising the conservation
and recovery criteria should be designed early in
the recovery implementation process. Some of the
components of such a plan are described in detail
below; others are identified elsewhere in the document.
One of the first tasks of the Implementation
Team will be to prioritize these information needs.
Conservation and recovery actions
1. Develop an adaptive management plan for updating and revising the conservation and recovery criteria.
2. Develop specific analytical methods for evaluating the ESA and MMPA Demographic Criteria.
Total cost: (included in operational costs of Implementation Team).
1. Strategic monitoring to determine if Plan goals are being met
As stated previously, the ultimate measure of
success of this Plan will be evaluated with the
fundamental criteria and performance metrics
(Table 1). As a practical matter, the specified demographic
and threats-based criteria are intended to
guide conservation planning and status assessments.
These criteria are more easily measured proxies
for our fundamental goals, and can be used to track
progress toward those goals. In addition to monitoring
these criteria, which describe the condition of
polar bears and their environment, it is also important
to track implementation of the management
activities identified in the previous conservation and
recovery action section of this Plan. Furthermore, it
is important to evaluate whether the management
activities had the intended effect. Monitoring must
focus both on implementation (the extent to which
the plan is followed and recovery actions are taken)
and effectiveness (to what extent recovery actions
are successful and progress is made). Collectively,
monitoring the demographic and threats-based
criteria, tracking implementation of management
activities, evaluating the effect of management
activities, and continuing to refine the demographic
and threats-based criteria as new information is
obtained, provide the adaptive management framework
necessary to meet the goals of this Plan.
This section outlines methods to monitor demographic
and threats-based criteria. The ultimate
goals of monitoring are to understand the state of
the system, continue to learn about its dynamics,
detect changes including those due to management
activities, and use this information to trigger new
or additional management actions as necessary to
meet the goals of the Plan. Recovery is an iterative
process. Through careful monitoring, the data
generated and lessons learned through implementing
individual recovery actions feed back into
refining the recovery plan and strategy.
One of the key questions regarding monitoring is
the appropriate scale. The ESA demographic and
threats-based criteria apply to each recovery unit
and the MMPA demographic criteria apply to each
subpopulation. Because of the logistical challenges
associated with monitoring outside the United
States, the focus of the monitoring actions in this
Plan is on the two subpopulations of polar bears
resident in the United States within the Polar Basin
Divergent Ecoregion. The fundamental goals will
ultimately be evaluated at the species level, which
will require international coordination.
This section provides the metrics that will be used
to monitor the Conservation Management Plan. It
is likely that the Implementation Team may identify
the need for a more detailed monitoring plan that
will specify the power of different monitoring
approaches, including use of Traditional Ecological
Knowledge, to detect change, what kinds of changes
are important (increases or decreases), and over
what time period. Traditional Ecological Knowledge,
for example, could be used to describe changes
that may be occurring prior to being detected by
science, and to provide insight to aspects of the
ecosystem possibly overlooked by science. Once
appropriate objectives are specified, scientists can
48 Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan