Arctic Concerns: A Big Challenge to Cooperation of Scientists with Decision-makers

In accordance with current national strategy (adopted in September 2008) the Russian Arctic should become the main resource base in XXI century. Russian and international companies are ready to unite their efforts to speed up the resource development. It means that anthropogenic impacts will increase significantly and will influence on the environment meanwhile arctic environment is already under global changing. Climate changes and following-up consequences in natural environment create a high level of uncertainty for conditions of economic activity and people's life. Different kind of technological and financial risks existed always in the Arctic due to specific natural conditions but now risk became a dominating factor. Among all arctic areas the coastal zone is the most ecologically vulnerable. Namely this zone represents today the highest economic interest with its shelf and coastal hydrocarbon resources and possibilities of the Northern Sea Route. To predict the critical situations including technological catastrophes and ecological crisis is the main challenge for decision-makers, industrial managers in very close cooperation with scientists. Already designed by researchers the ideology and principals of coastal zone management practically not used yet in the Arctic is one of the possible mechanisms to predict and mitigate negative consequences of industrial development together with creation of circumpolar net of monitoring system. However, implementation it into the practice of regional management needs special legislation which was worked out by scientists (draft of federal law) but not approved yet by the Russian Parliament. These questions were included in the research project on social and ecological vulnerability of the arctic coastal zone under development of hydrocarbon resources in framework of the IPY 2007-2008.