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RANKIN INLET/KIVALLIQ - Climate change now presents the biggest threat to Nunavut's polar bear population, said a polar bear biologist with the Nunavut government.

Polar bear biologist Lily Peacock said scientists have to learn to communicate and listen to Inuit better. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Lily Peacock conducts research to provide scientific information about the health and population status of Nunavut's polar bears.

The questions she most often hears from decision-makers are: will climate change affect polar bears? how many populations and bears are there? are their numbers increasing or decreasing? and what are the sustainable rates of harvest?

A hot topic of debate during the recent wildlife symposium in Rankin Inlet was the methods used to collect information on polar bears.

Although the methods are good at collecting the information needed, they don't go over well in communities because some of them go against Inuit values such as handling and capturing wildlife.

Peacock said Nunavut scientists are investigating alternative methods of collecting information, and are trying to adapt to incorporate Inuit values in their research.

She said an aerial survey will be tried in the Foxe Basin region, allowing a population estimate without capturing polar bears.

"It's a new method that has to be tested against an old method, because we have to defend our methods to scientists around the world," said Peacock.

"We want to combine our traditional method of capturing bears with the aerial survey and compare the results of the two methods.

"If we can demonstrate we've created a successful new method, we would only use the aerial-survey method across Nunavut's 12 polar bear populations in the future.

"Our goal is to try and reduce handling as much as possible."

Peacock said one of the main gaps between the population estimates of science and those of Inuit is a lack of communication.

She said in the past, scientists have not always communicated very well about their information.

"There's 30 years worth of data that demonstrates a decline in the Western Hudson Bay population from a scientific perspective.

"Scientists can become a lot better at communicating why they see those results and listening to the concerns of Inuit.

"Are more bears being seen on land because there's more of them there, or because the ice is changing the distribution of bears?

"If the bears have moved in distribution, that's why more of them are being seen in any given area."

There are areas where scientists and Inuit agree, such as acknowledging the polar bear population has increased across the world to 25,000 bears from about 8,000.

But scientists must ensure when they're talking about a population such as Western Hudson Bay, it's made clear they're talking about a specific population and time.

Peacock said it's a challenge for scientists to bridge sustainability with the importance of polar bears to the Inuit way of life.

She said the hard work is done by managers or decision-makers, in regards to bringing scientific and Inuit traditional knowledge together.

"As a scientist working in the North, it's my responsibility to help bridge that gap by bringing Inuit values into the way I do research, and also using Inuit knowledge to help me interpret the data.

"My science is made better by incorporating Inuit knowledge."

Peacock said she incorporates Inuit knowledge into her work every day.

She said Inuit look at maps, go out in the field with her, take her to the floe edge and show her seal holes.

"Perhaps managers in their Iqaluit offices don't, necessarily, know we work together all the time, but the fact is we do.

"I feel very good about the fact Inuit knowledge is being incorporated into our work because we learn more.

"Climate change is the greatest threat to polar bears and their habitat, not hunting.

"If the ice leaves, as predicted by science, the answer to how that will change how the bears use habitat is being sought using a combination of satellite collars and Inuit knowledge."

Some of Nunavut's 12 polar bear populations are declining due to high harvest or climate affects.

Conversely, some are increasing or have increased, while still others are stable.

Peacock said the same thing doesn't happen everywhere in the Arctic.

"Polar bear populations are different, with different environments.

"Bears in the south have ice-free periods, while those in the north have ice year-round.

"So, they're reacting differently from the climate change that's already occurred and they will react differently to future climate change.

"Bears are doing well in some areas and not so good in other places."