Shared by Russia and Norway, the biodiversity and biological productivity of the Barents Sea is of great importance for the economies of both countries. While these resources have supported human communities for centuries, resource exploitation, pollution and industrial activity is threatening to undermine biological diversity and production in this eco-region. The major threats to the natural resources of the Barents Sea are the growing energy demand and its unsustainable production meaning large scale oil and gas development in sensitive areas, as well as oil and gas transportation. Additionally, shipping traffic, and illegal, unregulated and uncontrolled fishing together with poaching and wildlife trade are also challenging the region’s wellbeing. WWF is committed to maintain and restore the marine ecosystems in the Barents Sea by setting aside no-go areas and best operational practices to protect high conservation areas from impacts of shipping, and oil and gas development. This involves conserving coastal and marine habitat, protecting species, and working with different stakeholders to find regulations and controlling mechanisms for a sustainable future. The project embraces a variety of different activities, which are strategically interwoven to achieve the full impact and success of our work. WWF has committed to raise £80,000 for this important and ambitious programme. Your support will help us preserve this pristine landscape containing some to the world’s oldest living creatures, currently threatened by the race for oil. Specific examples of the work and its costs are: • £670 could pay for a training workshop about oil spill and natural resource regional management for volunteers in Linakhamary Murmansk Oblast, on the Kola Peninsula of the Barents Sea. • £2,000 could pay for one year of WWF’s environmental education programme and summer school for 10-15 year old children in the Murmansk region on the Kola Peninsula of the Arctic’s Barents Sea about species and local ecosystems. • £2,000 could pay for a MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification seminar for people working in the Barents Sea fishing industry. This will introduce fishermen to the standards required for MSC accreditation and highlight the benefits of certification. • £3,000 could pay for one radio collar to track a polar bear. • £3,000 could pay for an ecological assessment of the Rybachiv Peninsula on the Russian coast of the Barents Sea, crucial in the development of a new Protected Area in the region and for deciding its borders. • £7,000 could pay for this year’s oil and gas work within the Arctic Barents Sea programme. This includes preparing maps identifying the Barents Sea’s most vulnerable regions, lobbying for no-go areas and against environmentally damaging pipeline proposals, and oil spill volunteer training. • £20,000 could pay for WWF’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) work in the Barents Sea for a year. The target for this work is to build a network of effectively managed and ecologically representative MPAs covering at least 10% of the Barents Sea by 2015.