A changing Arctic means a changing management and conservation reality and needs. In order to adapt policies, planning and management to best support arctic ecosystem resilience rather than weaken it, we need to reform management approaches as well as improve our conservation targets: which are the ecosystem functions that support ecosystem resilience, and which of those are likely to persist in light of a changing climate?

Recognising that current approaches to managing often-vulnerable arctic habitats and species are not keeping pace with accelerating climate change, RACER instead locates sources of ecological strength and durability in today’s arctic ecosystems - ecosystem resilience - and looks ahead to whether these wellsprings of resilience will persist in a climate-altered future.

Focusing conservation attention on these enduring sources of resilience is important for the continued functioning of arctic ecosystems, including the ecological services people receive from them.

Learn more about RACER:

• Background on the RACER project
• The RACER method
• RACER case studies

From the experts

Experts discuss resilience in the Arctic.
Featuring: Martin Sommerkorn, WWF; Don McLennon, Parks Canada; Sahotra Sarkar, University of Texas; John Roff, Natural Resources Canada; Terry Callaghan, Abisko Research Station, Sweden; Arkady Tishkov, Russian Academy of Sciences; Brendan Kelly, NOAA; Maria Gavrilo, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute St. Petersburg, Russia; James Snider, WWF