The Arctic
Consisting of deep ocean covered by drifting pack ice and surrounded by continents and archipelagos around the Earth's North Pole, the Arctic is the planet's largest and least fragmented inhabited region.
Why the Arctic matters
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Stories
Protecting Arctic Blue Corridors
“Blue corridors” are migration superhighways that allow whales, seals, walrus and other marine animals to move between locations to find the conditions they need for feeding, giving birth and mating. But Arctic whales and seasonal visitors to the Arctic face growing threats on their journeys. The Protecting Blue Corridors report, by WWF and partners, outlines a new collaborative conservation approach to identify the most important habitats for whales and the migratory connections between them – ultimately to assist the development of global and regional management plans to safeguard whales throughout their migratory pathways.
Published 17 February 2022
NEWS
Making noise for quieter ships: Why we need to reduce underwater noise pollution
Commercial shipping is the most significant contributor to underwater noise, and its impacts on marine species and the marine environment have been well-documented worldwide. Yet noise pollution levels are still increasing and affecting some regions of the world, such as the Arctic, disproportionately — a trend that is set to continue unless the shipping industry changes course.
Published 4 February 2022
From The Circle
Birds without borders need protection everywhere
Arctic migratory birds fly through dozens of countries on their way to and from the North—so whose birds are they, anyway? For example, if a bird migrates from southern Africa but breeds in the Arctic, is it a South African bird or an Arctic one? For the bird, it really doesn’t matter: what matters is being adequately protected from climate-related threats along the entire flyway. To that end, WWF–Sweden has launched the Tavvavouma Arctic Flyways project to study and protect an important wetland used by wading sandpipers.