In October-November 2013, Moscow is to host an international forum on polar bear conservation issues. The event will coincide with the 40^th anniversary of the signing of the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, which was signed on November 15, 1973 in Oslo by the Governments of the Soviet Union, the United States, Denmark, Canada and Norway. The agreement banned the hunting of polar bears, except for research purposes or as part of the traditional hunting practices by indigenous Arctic peoples. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said his ministry would support the organisation of the forum in every way. He stressed the need to develop projects to restore the population of rare and endangered animals. 

Experts believe that the upcoming forum could prove just as successful as the 2010 International Tiger Conservation Forum (Tiger Summit) in St Petersburg, which resulted in the adoption of an international strategy to save the rare predator.