Arctic communities

WWF works with communities throughout the Arctic to help them deal with the effects of climate change, support research, and bring northern stories to a global audience.

FEATURED

Youth from around the world gather to protect Arctic biodiversity

Future Arctic leaders are gathering today at the Arctic Youth Summit in Rovaniemi, northern Finland.

Why it matters

Nowhere on Earth are the immediate effects of climate change felt so intensely. New economic opportunities are coming to the Arctic as oil and gas, shipping, and tourism, while melting permafrost and changes to the patterns of game animals are changing the face of life in the north.

4 MILLION

people live in the Arctic, about half of them in Russia.

ABOUT 10%

of the Arctic's population are Indigenous, according to the Arctic Council.

Solutions

Valuing knowledge

Knowledge comes from many places. In the Arctic, we speak of our work as being “knowledge-based” rather than solely “science-based”. Indigenous peoples of the Arctic have a store of ecological knowledge based on their own observations of the environment, and on information handed down over generations.

WWF encourages the use of this traditional ecological knowledge to inform management policies in the Arctic. We have supported several projects that collect this form of knowledge, helping to provide a more rounded knowledge base.

Protecting Arctic livelihoods

For thousands of years, Arctic Indigenous peoples have hunted animals for food, clothing, and other essential uses. Hunting is still part of the cultural identity of many northern peoples, and for some, still an essential part of their livelihoods. People still hunt because other foods available to people in northern communities are often less healthy than traditional foods, and too expensive for people to buy.

Learn more