ABSTRACT
In recent years concern over global warming, atmospheric pollution, ozone depletion, overfishing and uncontrolled resource extraction has focused international attention on the Arctic as a critical zone for global environmental change. Thé global quest for natural resources, the expansion of capitalist markets and the influence of transnational practices on the periphery has resulted in an internationalisation of the circumpolar north. The anthropogenic causes and consequences of environmental change and degradation demonstrates how regional environmental change in the Arctic cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be seen in relation to global change and global processes. Development and the threat of irreversible environmental damage has precipitated intense debate about the correct use of natural resources and proper ways forward for Arctic environmental protection. Indigenous peoples’ organisations, environmentalists and, more recently, national governments, have stressed the need to implement appropriate resource management policies and environmental protection strategies. Yet science-based resource management systems designed to safeguard wildlife and the Arctic environment have, for the most part, ignored indigenous perspectives.
