Arctic Council Working Group Recommendations
| Project | Type | # | Outcome | Report | Year | FEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Key finding | 4 | Disturbance and habitat degradation can diminish Arctic biodiversity and the opportunities for Arctic residents and visitors to enjoy the benefits of ecosystem services. | Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers | 2013 | |
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Recommendation | 11 | 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. | Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers | 2013 | |
| Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) | Action | 7 | Develop and implement mechanisms that best safeguard Arctic biodiversity under changing environmental conditions, such as loss of sea ice, glaciers and permafrost. a. Safeguard areas in the northern parts of the Arctic where high Arctic species have a relatively greater chance to survive for climatic or geographical reasons, such as certain islands and mountainous areas, which can act as a refuge for unique biodiversity. b. Maintain functional connectivity within and between protected areas in order to protect ecosystem resilience and facilitate adaptation to climate change. | 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 There is mistrust between Arctic Indigenous peoples and scientists, and scientists often lack adequate preparation for working cross-culturally. POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Increase opportunities for cross-cultural learning, understanding, and trust building. | Arctic Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom: Changes in the North American Arctic | 2017 | ||
| Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI) | Key finding | 3 | This overall trend masks differences between taxa and in flyway regions, with declines in East Asia and Central Asia (-40% and -70%), and recoveries in Africa-Eurasia and the Americas (50% and 15%). | Arctic Species Trend Index: Migratory Birds Index | 2015 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 2 | The substantial ecosystem services provided by Arctic wetlands should be recognized at the international level. Presently, there is limited coordination on how ecosystem services from Arctic wetland management are reported to international frameworks or conventions on climate change mitigation and biodiversity. Common guidelines on how ecosystem services gained from wetland conservation and restoration actions are reported internationally could increase their global recognition. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 5 | Use short-lists of known northern wetland sites in need of protection, conservation or restoration to support national-level action plans. Such actions should be targeted to the most promising sites, including those that may be located outside the Arctic. Wetland protection, conservation and restoration would be more effective if done in direct collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and/or stakeholders and applied at the landscape level. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 1.2.1 | Arctic Indigenous Peoples and Wetland Protected Areas: Formal Indigenous representation in managementprocesses occurs in over one-fourth of the surveyed sites. | Arctic Wetlands and Indigenous Peoples Study: An assessment of Indigenous engagement in wetland protected areas | 2021 | |
| Arctic TEEB | Key finding | 2.2 | Arctic ecosystem services: Ecosystem services work should take a holistic approach and operate at the level of ecosystem service bundles | The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for the Arctic: A Scoping Study Executive Summary | 2015 | |
| Arctic TEEB | Key finding | 4.4 | Valuing Arctic ecosystem services: Key Finding 4.4. Health values are often overlooked in ecosystem services analyses | The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for the Arctic: A Scoping Study Executive Summary | 2015 | |
| CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring | Key finding | Many populations with the poorest population information are those which we suspect are showing the greatest declines. | A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations | 2018 | ||
| CBMP Freshwater Biodiversity Monitoring | Key finding | Available long-term monitoring records and research data indicate that freshwater biodiversity has changed over the last 200 years, with shifts in species composition being less dramatic in areas where temperatures have been more stable. | State of the Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2016 | ||
| CBMP Marine Biodiversity Monitoring | Advice | Methods: Increased attention to methodology allows for more precise and comparable results, standardized data collection, and ability to link regional monitoring to circumpolar efforts: -- Ensure that Arctic monitoring programs are ecosystem-based and include as many CBMP FECs as possible to include functionally important taxonomic groups and improve our understanding of how the ecosystem functions, and how its components are related. Such monitoring programs can serve to underpin management of human activities in the Arctic marine environment.-- Standardize methodology, including taxonomic identification in order to allow production of comparable data and results. -- Ensure training of personnel performing sampling and analyses. | State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2017 | ||
| CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring | Advice | Ecosystem-based Monitoring and Reporting: Monitoring and reporting should encompass all key taxonomic groups and their likely relationships, linking responses to main biotic and abiotic drivers of change.
| State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring | 2021 | ||
| Arctic Migratory Birds Initiative (AMBI) | Advice | 2 | Monitoring temporal trends in plastic ingestion: The northern fulmar, thick-billed murre and black-legged kittiwake should be monitored for temporal trends in plastic pollution ingestion. | Plastic Pollution in Seabirds: Developing a program to monitor plastic pollution in seabirds in the pan-Arctic region | 2021 | |
| CBird: Seabird Expert Group | 1.2 | Reduce the threat from illegal killing. 1.2.1 Support education materials and/or law enforcement efforts in support of existing regulations to prevent illegal killing | International Black-legged Kittiwake - Conservation Strategy and Action Plan | 2021 | ||
| 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 |