Arctic Council Working Group Recommendations
| Project | Type | # | Outcome | Report | Year | FEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBird: Seabird Expert Group | 3.2 | Ensure that new offshore energy development does not come in conflict with foraging habitat use by kittiwakes. 3.2.1. Use tracking and population data to prevent construction of offshore structures close to breeding sites/foraging grounds/wintering sites | International Black-legged Kittiwake - Conservation Strategy and Action Plan | 2021 | ||
| CBird: Seabird Expert Group | Action | 4.1 | Consumptive use: 1.Develop international harvest plans, 2. Establish appropriate harvest rules , 3.Obtain reliable harvest estimates , 4. Evaluate the opportunity for guided hunts, 5. Support egg and down collection programs. | Circumpolar Eider Conservation Strategy and Action Plan | 1997 | |
| CBird: Seabird Expert Group | Action | 3.3 | Commercial activities and industries: 8. Identify, publicize and minimise impacts of commercial activities on murre breeding and foraging areas. 9. Implement programs to reduce oil pollution in areas used by murres. 10. Assess and reduce mortality of murres in commercial fishing gear. 11. Ensure that management of commercial harvests of small fish species provide for their role in murre diets. | International Murre Conservation Strategy and Action Plan | 1996 | |
| Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative (AMBI) | Action | 3 | Development and dissemination of information and awareness materials addressing priority target 3.1 Support the development of communication products (in collaboration with flyway partners and communications experts) showcasing migratory connectivity, knowledge gaps, and threats in the African-Eurasian flyway area. | AMBI Work Plan 2019-2025: African Eurasian Flyway | 2021 | |
| Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative (AMBI) | Action | 2 | Secure intertidal and associated habitat for AMBI priority species at key staging and wintering sites in the Central and East Asian Flyways. 2.1 (Russia): Ensure improvement of protection of the Russian Far East coastal shorebird stopover sites, by providing information to support local and national decision making on key habitat identification and conservation, including consideration of the new Nature Park in Chukotka and prioritising recovery of closed protected area at Moroshechnaya river mouth in Kamchatka. 2.2 (United States): Gather better information on the abundance, distribution and habitat use of Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwits at spring and fall staging sites in Alaska. 2.3 (China): Enhance protection of Jiangsu Coast ecosystem, especially the Rudong and Dongtai areas for Spoon-billed Sandpiper and other Arctic-breeding shorebirds considering World Heritage Site Nomination requirements. 2.4 (China): Enhance protection of the Luannan Coast especially Nanpu, Tangshan for Red Knot and other Arctic-breeding shorebirds. 2.5 (China): Enhance protection at Yalu Jiang, Liaoning for Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Great Knot and other Arctic shorebirds. 2.6 (China): Increase knowledge of key staging and wintering Arctic-breeding shorebirds sites in southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian provinces) and improve conservation status of these sites. 2.7 (Republic of Korea): Support efforts to reverse declining trends of AMBI priority species (SBS, Great Knot, Dunlin and other) and improve habitat conservation along the flyway through sharing knowledge and international cooperative projects. 2.8 (Republic of Korea): Promote the importance of conserving Korea. | AMBI Work Plan 2019-2025: Central and East Asian Flyways | 2021 | |
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Recommendation | 4 | Require the incorporation of biodiversity objectives and provisions into all Arctic Council work and encourage the same for on-going and future international standards, agreements, plans, operations and/or other tools specific to development in the Arctic. This should include, but not be restricted to, oil and gas development, shipping, fishing, tourism and mining. | Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers | 2013 | |
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Recommendation | 13 | Increase and focus inventory, long-term monitoring and research efforts to address key gaps in scientific knowledge identified in this assessment to better facilitate the development and implementation of conservation and management strategies. Areas of particular concern identified through the ABA include components critical to ecosystem functions including important characteristics of invertebrates, microbes, parasites and pathogens. | Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers | 2013 | |
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Action | 9 | Reduce the threat of invasive alien/non-native species to the Arctic by developing and implementing common measures for early detection and reporting, identifying and blocking pathways of introduction,and sharing best practices and techniques for monitoring, eradication and control. This includes supporting international efforts currently underway, for example those of the International Maritime Organization to effectively treat ballast water to clean and treat ship hulls and drilling rigs. 9.1. Develop a strategy for the prevention and management of invasive species across the Arctic, including the identification and mitigation of pathways of introduction invasions. Include involvement of Indigenous observing networks, which include invasive and newspecies reporting, to assist with early detection. 9.2. Incorporate common protocols for early detection and reporting of non-native invasive species in the Arctic into CBMP monitoring plans. | Actions for Arctic Biodiversity, 2013-2021: Implementing the recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment | 2015 | |
| Key finding | Biodiversity policy in the Arctic has to reflect the needs of people living in the Arctic, many of whom are indigenous. | Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report | 2014 | |||
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Action | CHALLENGE Very complex and dynamic systems. POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Effective partnerships and/or a formalized system of sharing among Arctic Indigenous peoples and scientists would more effectively engage human intelligence to deal with issues, for example utilizing Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom as early warnings of environmental change | Arctic Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom: Changes in the North American Arctic | 2017 | ||
| Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI) | Key finding | 5 | Waterfowl have increased across all flyway regions mainly due to geese, but there are differences in the underlying trends for geese/swans and for ducks. Geese and swans combined more than quadrupled in abundance between 1970 and 2011, showing positive change across regions (Figure 20), although coverage is too patchy for reliable conclusions. The increase in geese/swans is largely driven by geese, which make up the majority of this data set. Swans have been in decline since 1994. Duck abundance is 10% lower overall (Figure 19), but there are regional differences, with a halving in the Americas and a 70% increase in Africa-Eurasia. | Arctic Species Trend Index: Migratory Birds Index | 2015 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 4 | Although the majority of Arctic wetlands remain relatively intact, changes are already occurring across the Arctic and wetland resilience is needed to buffer further damage. Wetlands are vulnerable to substantial indirect damage e.g. through global warming, changes to p recipitation patterns, altered hydrological flows, and environmental pollutants. Such damage also constitutes a broader threat to migratory animal populations. These diverse threats to wetland ecosystems emphasize the need for landscape scale management with a focus on conservation, protection and maintained resilience. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 7 | Inventory and review existing national policies relating to wetlands with an eye on using a watershed approach and identifying conflicting or inconsistent goals, overlapping or unclear responsibility among governmental departments and entities, and gaps in communication. Identifying and addressing these issues would enable more effective governance of wetlands and balancing conservation and Indigenous and other user needs to achieve more effective stewardship. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 1.2.3 | Arctic Indigenous Peoples and Wetlands Management: Most management and conservation plans, as well as other official information on wetland protected areas, fail to document Indigenous resource use in a systematic or functional way and as a result, do not provide a complete picture of resource use and management within the areas. | Arctic Wetlands and Indigenous Peoples Study: An assessment of Indigenous engagement in wetland protected areas | 2021 | |
| Arctic TEEB | Key finding | 2.4 | Arctic ecosystem services: Arctic ecosystem services provide benefits to a range of stakeholders at various scales, both directly and indirectly – and the stakeholders who benefit from services and those who affect the availability of the same services are not always the same. | The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for the Arctic: A Scoping Study Executive Summary | 2015 | |
| Arctic TEEB | Key finding | 6.1 | Way forward: Engagement of Arctic Indigenous organizations and a broad range of stakeholders in participatory development of knowledge and policy alternatives is central to a successful TEEB Arctic study. Follow-up work to this scoping study should be structured so that those who wish to contribute can do so through a range of avenues. | The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for the Arctic: A Scoping Study Executive Summary | 2015 | |
| CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring | Key finding | To interpret changes in population size, there is an increasing need to understand whether these are due to shifts in range, changes in reproductive success or changes in annual survival. | A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations | 2018 | ||
| CBMP Freshwater Biodiversity Monitoring | Key finding | Instruments such as the European Water Framework Directive promote routine monitoring of lake and river FECs. But where a country, ecoregion, or FEC is not covered by such instruments, monitoring is irregular, has poor spatial coverage, or is absent. | State of the Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2016 | ||
| CBMP Marine Biodiversity Monitoring | Advice | Knowledge gaps: Filling gaps in knowledge helps us better understand key elements and functions of the ecosystem that can help explain change and understand the system:
| State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2017 | ||
| CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring | Advice | Methods : Increased attention to methodology facilitates more precise and comparable results, standardized data collection, and ability to link regional monitoring to circumpolar efforts.
| State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2021 |