Sean Hutton lives a long way from the polar bear population of Canada’s far north, but that declining population of extraordinary animals is always on the boy’s mind.
Five years ago, when he was just seven, Sean learned that the lives of polar bears were severely threatened by global warming. He heard at school that the arctic ice was receding, that the bears were in jeopardy of starvation, and that the activities of people were causing it.
And so he started a fundraising walk – encouraging walking instead of driving to school – to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund Canada. He knew that WWF was working hard to protect polar bears.
“I started the walk to help the bears,” said Sean, now 11, who is in preparations for Monday’s annual Polar Bear Walk to School. For the first time, the event which started in Guelph is going national. Walks have happened or will soon happen in a number of communities, Sean’s dad, Jason Hutton said.
“I was very worried about the polar bears,” Sean said. He explained that when we drive our vehicles or run our factories, the carbon dioxide from the fuel we burn gets into the atmosphere. Over time, it has warmed up the earth. And some of the worst affects are in the Arctic.
The sea ice is melting at an alarming rate, and that is robbing polar bears of habitat and reducing the animals’ access to their primary food source.
“I have been watching what’s happening, and it’s not good,” he said.
The population of polar bears around the community of Churchill, Manitoba is down to about 950, he said. It was 1,000 not long ago.
He added that WWF is doing a number of things to help the polar bears, including monitoring populations, and working with governments and industry to reduce climate change impacts on polar bears. WWF also advocates for nonlethal deterrents when it comes to encounters between people and bears.
On Monday, students in Guelph will walk to raise awareness and funds to help support the changing habitat of the Arctic and its effect on the polar bear population. Students are asked to contribute a toonie to the effort. Contributions can also be made on the WWF website.
Over 100 students will walk to Holy Trinity Catholic School on Grange Road, lead by Sean Hutton, and accompanied by parents and school staff. They will arrive at the school by 8:40 a.m., with a WWF assembly starting a 9:15 a.m. Monday is International Day of the Polar Bear.
Jason Hutton called his son’s efforts “incredible” and “inspiring.” There was always a hope and an expectation that the walk would become a national WWF event. Now that it is one, it goes to show how much of a difference one young person can have.
Early on, his son envisioned every school kid in the country walking to school in an effort to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, all in the interests of protecting polar bears.
