161 



The following excerpt Is from the report section 

 entitled The Polar Bear Agreement" 



2. Habitat Protection 



Article II of the Polar Bear Agreement imposes three 

 obligations on the parties: 



1) to take "appropriate action to protect the ecosystem 

 'of which polar bears are a part;" 140 



2) to give "special attention to habitat components such 

 as denning and feeding sites and migration patterns;" 141 and 



3) to manage polar bear populations in accordance with 

 "sound conservation practices" based on the best available 

 scientific data. 142 



The IUCN drafts limited Article II to the protection of 

 unspecified habitat components located within the boundaries 

 of each party. It also required international cooperation to 

 protect polar bears that migrate across international 

 boundaries. The parties greatly expanded this Article by: 

 1) requiring efforts to protect the overall ecosystem upon 

 which polar bears depend; 2) specifying the habitat components 



140 Id. Art. XX. 



141 la,. 



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