Polar Bear Week AAC Toolkit

Polar Bears International’s Story:

Polar Bears International is the only nonprofit with a sole focus on wild polar bears and their Arctic habitat. We are proud to be a part of a global network working to protect Arctic sea ice, an ecosystem many species depend on across the circumpolar north.

A polar bear's life cycle is almost exclusively tied to the sea ice. Polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting, traveling, breeding, and sometimes denning. Sea ice loss from climate change is the single biggest threat to polar bears—and the reason the bears are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. 

In some regions, polar bears are now spending 3-4 weeks longer on land than their ancestors did, which means less food. We are seeing bears with smaller body size, fewer cubs, and declines in some populations. Across the Arctic, sea ice loss due to climate change is driving more polar bears ashore in more places—and for longer periods.

For the past couple of years, Polar Bears International has been testing whether ground-based radar could be used to detect polar bears, serving as an early warning system that could alert communities to approaching bears, part of our ongoing efforts to help to provide people who live, work, and travel in the North the additional tools to stay safe.

This year we will continue to test the “Bear-dar” ground-based radar systems to assess their potential in alerting authorities day or night if polar bears approach the town. If successful, these systems could be used to help communities and remote camps across the Arctic reduce human-polar bear conflict. New in 2022, we have mounted one of the radar units on a mobile tower that will be tested in corridors known to be frequent paths traveled by polar bears near the community. 

Stay connected! Together, we can make a difference for polar bears and people. Reconnect with an old friend in the alumni network or engage on the private alumni and ambassador space on facebook. If there’s a Climate Alliance participant or Field Ambassador at your institution who is joining the PBI team in Churchill this year, connect over your shared experience, talk about the program and the network. 

• The Polar Bear Cam is back! Live cams in partnership with Explore.org, Frontiers North Adventures, and Parks Canada will continue this year. Tune into the live Polar Bear Cam to see if you can spot a polar bear in action AND share with your networks.
  

• Learn more and share. 

  • Read and share an article about coexisting with polar bears.

  • Visit our Education Center to view one of our newest units and share with your educational partners, like our Integrated STEM - Polar Bear Math And Science unit!

• View our Tundra Connections broadcasts during Polar Bear Week. We’ve planned a mix of educational webcasts and fun, more casual live chats aboard Tundra Buggy® One and elsewhere. Share the schedule and/or the promo video with your membership and educational partners.

• Call for bold action from #COP27. Ask world leaders to protect people and nature by urgently scaling up climate solutions. Watch for our social media outreach from the Climate Summit in Egypt and join the conversation! This Toolkit, made for educators, is a helpful tool to prepare yourself and your followers to follow COP27 or learn more about international climate negotiations.  

• Support an #EnergyShift and #VoteForPolarBears. We are so much more than our individual actions. Think about where your strengths and skills can be applied to influencing decisions on where our energy comes from. Research renewable energy options available to you, contact your local and national civic leaders, find a community of others who share your concern for climate change, and invite your friends and family to do the same. 

• TALK about climate change and solutions. Share these with your viewership and your friends and family. Include them in your distance learning programs or tabling events on grounds. And pull from the youth solutions handout when talking to younger learners.

Hashtags

#SaveOurSeaIce #ClimateActionNow #EnergyShift #TalkAboutIt #COP27

Sample Posts

Feel free to share these sample posts on social media with your own visuals or with one of our included graphics to spread the word. Kindly tag @PolarBearsInternational and/or share a link to our website. We deeply appreciate your support!