Abstract
In 2013, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) and the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council released the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA), a report containing the best available science informed by traditional ecological knowledge on the status and trends of Arctic biodiversity and accompanying policy recommendations (ABA 2013a) for biodiversity conservation. This text provides a summary of the ABA recommendations and a discussion on their path from key scientific findings to policy and subsequent actions.
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The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states, with the involvement of the Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
Out of a total of 4 million inhabitants of the Arctic, approximately 500,000 belong to indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples’ organizations have been granted Permanent Participants status in the Arctic Council. The Permanent Participants have full consultation rights in connection with the Council’s negotiations and decisions. The Permanent Participants represent a unique feature of the Arctic Council, and they make valuable contributions to its activities in all areas. The following organizations are Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council: Arctic Athabaskan Council, Aleut International Association, Gwich’in Council International, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, and the Saami Council.
Arctic Council observer countries are the following: France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the UK, the People’s Republic of China, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and India.
References
CAFF (2013a) Arctic biodiversity assessment: report for policy makers. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Akureyri
CAFF (2013b) Arctic biodiversity assessment. Status and trends in Arctic biodiversity. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Akureyri
CAFF (2013c) Arctic biodiversity assessment synthesis. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Akureyri
CAFF (2015) Actions for Arctic biodiversity: implementation of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment recommendations 2013–2021
Smith R, Barry T, Kateras F (2015) Thoughts on the Arctic biodiversity congress. Biodiversity. 16 (1)
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Barry, T., Price, C. Arctic biodiversity: from science to policy. J Environ Stud Sci 5, 283–287 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-015-0267-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-015-0267-3