Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan: implementation and work plan Akureyri, Iceland, February 25-27, 2014

The Terrestrial Steering Group (TSG), has initiated the implementation phase of the CBMP Terrestrial Plan. The CBMP Terrestrial Steering Group, along with a set of invited experts (see Appendix A for a participants list), met in Iceland from February 25-27th to develop a three year work plan to guide implementation of the CBMP-Terrestrial Plan. This report describes the outcome of that workshop.

The aim of the workshop was to develop a three year work plan to guide implementation of the CBMP-Terrestrial Plan. The participants were tasked with devising an approach to both (a) determine what capacity and information may be currently available and (b) to outline near-term required steps to begin implementing the plan and reporting on an initial set of Arctic terrestrial biodiversity focal ecosystem component attributes.

The specific objectives of the workshop were to:

1. Identify key products for TSG for the next two years.
2. Identify key components of a pan-Arctic status report for priority focal ecosystem components (FEC) attributes for policy and decision makers.
3. Develop a prioritized set of activities to meet reporting objectives.
4. Identify key milestones and timelines for the successful implementation of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan for the next two years.
5. Identify expert networks required for successful implementation of the plan.
6. Identify key gaps and opportunities for the TSG related to plan implementation and identify near-term next steps to address gaps.