Recommendations

Convene Arctic Biodiversity Congress.

a. Convene, and report the results of the first Arctic Biodiversity Congress, create dialogue on ABA key findings and recommendations, solicit review and input on draft ABA action plan, establish partnerships and advance implementation actions.

b. Convene, and report the results of, a second Arctic Biodiversity Congress to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity focusing on the results of the CBMP state of the Arctic biodiversity reports, progress on implementation of ABA recommendations, and attainment of Aichi Targets.

c. Convene a third congress.

Reduce the threat of pollutants to Arctic biodiversity.

a. Support and enhance international efforts and cooperation to identify, assess and reduce existing and emerging harmful contaminants.

11.1. Provide information necessary for assessment of trends in, among others, contaminant levels in ecosystems, biological effects, and improve predictive capacity (Trends and Effects Monitoring Programme).

11.2. Prepare an update assessment of Persistent Organic Pollutants and resulting biological effects.

11.3. Develop ecosystem models that project ecosystem response to climate change and contaminant-related factors (AACA-C).

b. Support the development of appropriate prevention and clean up measures and technologies that are responsive to oil spills in the Arctic, especially in ice-filled waters, such that they are ready for implementation in advance of major oil and gas developments.

11.4. Implement the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution, Preparedness andResponse in the Arctic , including executing international exercises and maintaining and updating the Operational Guidelines.

11.5. Prepare a Guide to Oil Spill Response in Snow and Ice Conditions in the Arctic.

c. Encourage local and national action to implement best practices for local wastes, enhance efforts to clean-up legacy contaminated sites and include contaminant reduction and reclamation plans in development projects.

11.6. Demonstrate rapid assessment and clean-up of old sites, and environmentally sounddestruction of obsolete pesticides in northern Russia.

11.7. Organize an information conference on best practices on contaminant reduction in Indigenous communities.

CHALLENGE Research is not year-round and data gaps are many in the remote Arctic.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom can fill data gaps since observations are year-round and often draw on long time frames

Develop guidelines and implement appropriate spatial and temporal measures where necessary to reduce human disturbance to areas critical for sensitive life stages of Arctic species that are outside protected areas, for example along transportation corridors. Such areas include calving grounds, den sites, feeding grounds, migration routes and moulting areas. This also means safeguarding important habitats such as wetlands and polynyas.

6.1. Provide technical information, including mapping areas of high species abundance, unique Arctic diversity and those important for sensitive life stages, at a scale appropriate for use in planning.

6.2. Develop, where needed, guidelines or other tools, for safeguarding sensitive areas for biodiversity (outside protected areas) that are vulnerable to human activity and/or contribute to international processes developing such guidelines, including potential refugia that will maintain multi-year ice.

Actively support international efforts addressing climate change, both reducing stressors and implementing adaptation measures, as an urgent matter. Of specific importance are efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce emissions of black carbon, methane and tropospheric ozone precursors.

1.1. Addressing short-lived climate forcers.

a. Negotiate an Arctic Council Framework for Enhanced Action on Black Carbon and Methane.

b. Implement existing Arctic Council recommendations on short-lived climate forcers.

c. Hold a workshop on the reduction of black carbon emissions from residential woodcombustion in the Arctic that identifies voluntary actions to reduce emissions.

d. Diesel black carbon reduction in the Russian Arctic.

e. Prepare scientific assessments on black carbon and tropospheric ozone and on methane.

f. Follow-up projects on reducing black carbon, including: the transport and dieselgenerator sectors; the Arctic Case Studies Platform; and convening a conference on best practices on contaminant reduction in Indigenous communities.

1.2. Mainstream biodiversity into the climate change agenda, including adaptation and mitigation, through outreach.

Reduce the threat of pollutants to Arctic biodiversity.

a. Support and enhance international efforts and cooperation to identify, assess and reduce existing and emerging harmful contaminants.

b. Support the development of appropriate prevention and clean up measures and technologies that are responsive to oil spills in the Arctic, especially in ice-filled waters, such that they are ready for implementation in advance of major oil and gas developments.

c. Encourage local and national action to implement best practices for local wastes, enhance efforts to clean-up legacy contaminated sites and include contaminant reduction and reclamation plans in development projects.