The Arctic Ocean and its shelf seas represent an area of global significance in terms both of their influence on global oceanic and atmospheric circulation and their unique biological species, which constitute an essential element of global biological diversity.
A further important feature of the Arctic is its indigenous inhabitants. Indigenous peoples have been living as part of the Arctic ecosystem for millennia and, in most areas, continue to do so. As consumers of local resources, they are frequently the most exposed recipients of contaminants from local and distant sources.
The Russian Federation is now attempting to formulate a comprehensive approach to environmental protection, including that of the Arctic and its indigenous arctic peoples. The system boundaries for interventions within this Project are northern Russia. The marine area that is the focus of protective activities among the Arctic States includes not only the entire Arctic Basin but also several adjacent marine areas such as the Barents Sea, the Greenland Sea, Baffin Bay and some parts of the Bering Sea. The Project outlined here deals specifically with interventions within the Russian Federation to address the most seriously affected marine areas of the Arctic by anthropogenic activities.
