All CAFF assessment documents.
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) and Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working groups of the Arctic Council developed this update on the 2017 indicator report (CAFF-PAME 2017).
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Chapter 4: State of Arctic Terrestrial Biodiveristy Monitoring
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Chapter 3.7: Ecosystem-based Monitoring and Reporting
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Chapter 3.6 Land Cover Change
Authors Tom Barry and Liza K. Jenkins
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Chapter 3.5: Rare species
Lead Author: Mora Aronsson,
Contributing authors: Bruce Bennett, Casey T. Burns, Starri Heiðmarsson and Mikhail Soloviev.
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Reprot Chapter 3.4: Mammals
Lead authors: James Lawler, Christine Cuyler, Douglas MacNearney.
Contributing authors: Dominique Berteaux, Dorothee Ehrich, Anne Gunn, Jan Rowell, Don Russel, Niels Martin Schmidt
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Chapter 3.3: Birds
Lead authors: Knud Falk, Paul A. Smith, Casey T. Burns
Contributing Authors: Anthony D. Fox, Alastair Franke, Eva Fuglei, Karl O. Jacobsen, Richard B. Lanctot, James O. Leafloor, Laura McKinnon, Hans Meltofte, Adam C. Smith, Mikhail Soloviev, Aleksandr A. Sokolov.
State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report: Chapter 3.2 Arthropods
Authors: Stephen J. Coulson, Mark A.K. Gillespie and Toke T. Høye
STate of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Chapter 3.1: Vegetation
Lead authors: Virve Ravolainen, Anne D. Bjorkman
Contributing authors: Donald Walker, Howard Epstein, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub
The State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report(START) is a product of the Circumpolar BiodiversityMonitoring Program (CBMP) Terrestrial Group of the arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna(CAFF) Working Group. The START assesses the status and trends of terrestrial Focal Ecosystem Components(FECs)—including vegetation, arthropods, birds, and mammals—across the Arctic, identify gaps in monitoring coverage towards implementation of the CBMP’s ArcticTerrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan; and provides key findings and advice for monitoring. The START is based upon primarily published data, from a special issue of Ambio containing 13 articles by more than 180 scientists.
Update SeabirdsCircumpolar Seabird Expert Group (CBird)CBMP-Marine
In 2017, the State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report (SAMBR) synthesized data about biodiversity in Arctic marine ecosystems around the circumpolar Arctic. SAMBR highlighted observed changes and relevant monitoring gaps using data compiled through 2015 (CAFF 2017). This document provides an update on the status of seabirds in the circumpolar Arctic using data from 2016–2019.
Brünnich’s guillemot is an abundant pan-Arctic seabird, but several Atlantic breeding populations are declining by up to 6% per year. They are subject to traditional hunting in the wintering areas off west Greenland and Newfoundland, as well as chronic oil pollution in eastern Canada. Until recently, poor knowledge of the winter distribution has limited the possibility to assess the impact of these mortality sources on specific breeding populations.
The State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report (START) is a product of the Circumpolar Biodiversity MonitoringThe State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report (START) is a product of the Circumpolar Biodiversity MonitoringProgram (CBMP) Terrestrial Group of the Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group.The overall goal of the START is to assess the status and trends of terrestrial Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs)—including species of vegetation, arthropods, birds and mammals—across the Arctic, and identify gaps in monitoringcoverage towards implementation of the CBMP’s Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (CBMP Terrestrial Plan).This report is a summary of key findings and advice for monitoring based on the START.
Plastic ingestion by seabirds in the circumpolar Arctic: A review
January 2021
Review of plastic pollution policies of Arctic countries in relation to seabirds
The Arctic Wetlands and Indigenous Peoples Study (AWIPS) is part the Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands Initiative (RMAWI), a project led by the Swedish Ministry of the Environment and Energy and the Stockholm Environment Institute through the Arctic Council´s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group on biodiversity. AWIPS aims to capture the fundamental role Indigenous Peoples play in biodiversity conservation through engagement in Arctic wetland protected areas management.
A progress on CAFF's activities to implement the Actions for Arctic Biodiversity during 2017-2019.
Wetlands constitute a large part of the Arctic and their role for sustainable development is critical, as they are directly related to climate change and adaptation, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the livelihood of indigenous and local peoples. The effects of climate change on Arctic wetlands, their biodiversity and functioning are still little understood but can be expected to be considerable. A better understanding is needed in order to increase the resilience of wetland ecosystems. This is one of the reasons why CAFF has undertaken an initiative on enhancing engagement in relation to the roles and functions of Arctic wetlands as a resource to support sustainable development and resilience in the Arctic. The overall goal of the project is to enhance the state of knowledge on resilience and management of Arctic wetlands in response to global change, including changes in climate and land use. The goal includes producing policy recommendations to support measures and further develop management strategies to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services including reduction of anthropogenically induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as improving climate adaptation, and exploring possibilities for sustainable use, especially for indigenous peoples.
The use of wetlands in the Sámi culture is diverse and the use contributes to the biodiversity viaThe use of wetlands in the Sámi culture is diverse and the use contributes to the biodiversity viareindeer trampling and grazing. Some of the traditional use of wetlands has been modified becauseof changes in land area access. Wetlands are important for both the reindeer and humans and animportant factor for reindeer herding strategies. The value of wetlands are defined with a holisticapproach were the wetlands characteristics, connectivity, surrounding area and external factors, asthe weather conditions, determines the value and most strategic and sustainable use of the wetland.
CAFF is undertaking an initiative on enhancing engagement in relation to the roles and functions of Arctic wetlands as a resource to support sustainable development and resilience in the Arctic. Wetlands constitute a large part of the Arctic and their role for sustainable development is critical, asthey are directly related to climate change and adaptation, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the livelihood of Indigenous and local peoples. The effects of climate change on Arctic wetlands, their biodiversity and functioning are still little understood but can be expected to be considerable.
Wetlands have enormous value, yet their role in supporting biodiversity, carbon sequestration, supporting traditional livelihoods, and providing other ecosystem services is not widely appreciated. This is arguably even more the case with Arctic wetlands, which while making up a large portion of terrestrial area in the Arctic, are recently gaining attention from wetlands advocates such as the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, NGOs such as Wetlands International, and other bodies with a wetlands focus.
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group of the Arctic Council (www.caff.is) is undertaking an initiative on enhancing engagement at all levels (technical, policy, etc) in relation to the roles and functions of Arctic wetlands as a resource to support sustainable development and resilience in the circumpolar Arctic. The overall goalof the project is to develop recommendations to support policy measures and management strategies to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here we report on the activities and outcomes of phase 1 of this project, which includes a survey of wetland inventories in Arctic countries and a scoping literature review of research on Arctic wetlands to identify where knowledge is currently lacking. Phase two of this project addresses itself to knowledge gaps (as identifiedin this report) pertaining to wetlands status, wetlands uses, and to regulatory and management practices, all of which are needed for developing recommendations for potential policy and management actions.
A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations(Component 2: Population accounts)
This is a review of the abundance, status and distribution of natural wild goose populations in thenorthern hemisphere. The report comprises three parts of which this report is part 1. Part 1summarises key findings from the study and themethodology and analysis applied; Part two will contain the individualaccounts for each of the 68 populations included in thisreport; and part 3 will provide the datasets compiled for this studywhich will be made accessible on the Arctic Biodiversity DataService. Part two and three are still to be published.
Note: The printed copy of this report contains errors, the digital version is correct
The State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report (SAMBR) is a synthesis of the state of knowledge about biodiversity in Arctic marine ecosystems, detectable changes, and important gaps in our ability to assess state and trends in biodiversity across six focal ecosystem components (FECs): marine mammals, seabirds, marine fishes, benthos, plankton, and sea ice biota.
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) and Protection of the Arctic Marine Environments (PAME) working groups of the Arctic Council developed this indicator report. It provides an overview of the status and trends of protected areas in the Arctic.
This report, written in large part by Arctic indigenous peoples, acknowledges the importance of including Arctic indigenous peoples Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom (TK&W) in scientific efforts to fully understand the nature of biodiversity and biodiversity changes in the North.
This report summarizes population status and trends for 19 populations of Arctic seabirds within the AEWA area. It is a 2014 update of the 2011 CAFF report that was compiled as an input to the 2012 African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) Report on the Conservation Status of Migratory Birds in the Agreement Area (abbreviated Conservation Status Report, CSR) being prepared by Wetlands International
The report presents the results of the scoping study on ecosystem services and the application of a TEEB approach and methodology in the Arctic and concludes with options for follow-up work.
This report presents the results of the scoping study on ecosystem services and the application of a TEEB approach and methodology in the Arctic. The report includes: 1) Results from compiling and synthesizing information, issues, current practices, methodologies and perspectives on Arctic ecosystem services and their values in relation to decision making, 2)List and discussion of policy areas identified during the scoping study for potential follow up using TEEB methodology, and 3) Way forward options, including, but not limited to, application of TEEB methodology to policy focus areas, and consideration of options for practical implementation of TEEB at a range of jurisdictional and spatial scales.
This report aims to describe the broad-scale trends necessary for designing and targeting informed conservation strategies at the flyway level to address these reported declines.
This document, Actions for Biodiversity 2013- 2021: implementing the recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, comprises the implementation plan for the 17 recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA).
It is a living document that will be reviewed and updated every two years. The plan is not meant to be exhaustive or to replace working group work plans; rather it is complimentary, emphasizing specific actions that address the ABA recommendations.
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) Arctic Scoping Study is an early implementation pilot project that follows up on specific recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA).
TEEB aims to bring biodiversity into mainstream decision makingmaking nature an important part of policy related to business, social and economic development, not just policy directly related to environmental management.
TEEB is a global initiative coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). TEEB draws attention to the benefits that people gain from nature (ecosystem services), including food from fishing and hunting, maintenance of culture, water, enjoyment of wilderness, nature and wildlife, and provision of raw materials. Equally important but less obvious benefits include climate regulation and flood control. TEEB also brings attention to the costs to society when ecosystems are damaged and when plant and animal populations are lost. TEEB provides an analytical approach, tools and guidance that can help make the range of natures benefits more visible when politicians, businesses and others make decisions that might affect these benefits or put them at risk.
Issittumi Uumassuseqarnerup assigiinngisitaarneranik naliliineq
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis (in Greenlandic)
A stand alone synthesis document summarizing the characteristcs of Arctic biodiversity, human use of wildlife over time, status and trends in Arctic biodiversity, stressors and their alleviation, knowledge gaps and suggested conservation and research priorities.
The Co-Chairs Report from the Arctic Biodiversity Congress, held December 2-4, 2014.
Issittumi Uumassuseqassutsip assigiinngisitaarneranik naliliineq Eqikkaaneq – qinikkanut atugassiaq
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (Greenlandic). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Evaluering af Arktisk Biodiversitet: Sammenfatning til Politiske Beslutningstagere
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (Danish). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Evaluering af Arktisk Biodiversitet: Syntese
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis (in Danish)
Publishing information and table of contents for the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis
Life Linked to Ice examines the consequences for biodiversity of the dramatic changes occurring to sea ice. It was prepared by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna working group (CAFF), and both draws from and builds on Arctic Council assessments in order to present an overview of the state of knowledge about sea-ice-associated biodiversity. The report is intended as a briefing and reference document for policy makers.
AMAP/CAFF/SDW G, 2013. Identification of Arctic marine areas of heightened ecological and cultural significance: Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) IIc. Oslo. 114 pp. 2013. Identification of Arctic marine areas of heightened ecological and cultural significance: Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) IIc
Évaluation de la biodiversité de l’Arctique Résumé destiné aux décideurs
>Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (French). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Download a package of nine postcards that detail the key findings of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment.
Also available in
DanishEvenFinnishFrenchGreenlandicIcelandicInuktitutRussianSakhaYukagir
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Cover, Table of Contents and Acknowledgements.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, Summary
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, chapter 7, Suggested conservation and research priorities
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, chapter 5, Stressors and their alleviation
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, Status and trends in Arctic Biodiversity as a standalone document.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, References
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, Preface
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis,chapter 6, Knowledge gaps
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, chapter 3, Introduction
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, chapter 3: Human use of wildlife through time
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, Foreword
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis, chapter 2, Characteristics of Arctic Biodiversity.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Status and Trends in Arctic Biodiversity full scientific report (fishes and terrestrial ecosystems chapters still pending). The ABA is the best available science, informed by Traditoinal Ecological Knowledge, on the status and trends of Arctic biodiversity.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Synthesis. A stand alone synthesis document summarizing the characteristcs of Arctic biodiversity, human use of wildlife over time, status and trends in Arctic biodiversity, stressors and their alleviation, knowledge gaps and suggested conservation and research priorities.
ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐆᒪᔪᐃᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖏᑦᑑᑎᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᕈᑕᐅᓂᖏᑦ ᓇᐃᓈᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᑐᐊᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (Inuktitut). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Оценка биоразнообразия в Арктике Резюме для политического руководства
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (Russian). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Report for Policy Makers (English). Find the nine key findings and 17 recommendations CAFF makes to the Arctic Council.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Preface by CAFF and Steering Committee Chairmen
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Foreword by the chief scientist
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Introduction
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 20, Linguistic Diversity
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 19, Disturbance, Feedbacks and Conservation
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 18, Provisioning and Cultural Services
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 17, Genetics
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 16, Invasive Species: Human-Induced
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 15, Parasites
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 14, Marine Ecosystems
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 13, Freshwater Ecosystems
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 12, Terrestrial Ecosystems
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 11, Microorganisms
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 10, Fungi
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 9, Plants
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 8, Marine Invertebrates
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 7, Terrestrial and Freshwater Invertebrates
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 6, Fishes
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 5, Amphibians and Reptiles
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 4, Birds
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 3, Mammals
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 2, Species Diversity in the Arctic
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013: Chapter 1, Synthesis: implications for conservation
This is the first truely circumpolar overview of Arctic biodiversity and provides a clear understanding of the importance of the Earth's largest ecoregion and its status in the face of a rapidly changing world.
This report is a technical account of a Gap Analysis Project conducted for the Russian Arctic in 1997-1999 in support of the Circumpolar Protected Areas Network (CPAN) of CAFF. It updates the status and spatial distribution of protected areas within the CAFF area of the Russian Federation and provides, in 22 GIs based maps and several data sets, a wealth of information relevant for present and future management decisions related to habitat conservation in the Russian Arctic.
This report provides an overview of porposals made by CAFF countries for new and/or enlarged protected areas in the Arctic.
An assessment on the status of protected areas in the Arctic, as of 1994.
This documents the vascular flora of the Arctic to identify rare taxa endemic to the region, establish an annotated list of these taxa, and determine the level of protection currently afforded these plants.
For this report, twenty-two indicators were selected to provide a snapshot of the trends being observed in Arctic biodiversity today.
The references for the Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010: Selected indicators of Change report.
A twelve page summary booklet highlighting the key findings and emerging issues and challenges as featured in the full report.
Available in:
DanishFinnishGermanGreenlandicIcelandicNorwegianRussianSwedish
A presentation on the Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010: Selected Indicators of Change report.
The status and trend of indicator species #22, linguistic diversity, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #21, changes in protected areas, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #20, changes in harvest, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #19, seabird harvest, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #18, reindeer herding, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #17, impacts of human activities on benthic habitat, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #16, changing distributions of marine fish, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
The status and trend of indicator species #15, effects of decreased freshwater ice cover duration on biodiversity, in the Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report.
