Community Based Monitoring

Welcome to the Arctic Biodiversity portal

Preparations for ice fishing in Uummannaq, Greenland/ Photo: Lawrence Hislop, UNEP-GRID ArendalArctic inhabitants spend vast amounts of time on land and at sea. Drawing on personal experience, information shared with others, and knowledge handed down through generations, Arctic residents recognize subtle environmental changes and offer insights into their causes. They are community-based monitors by virtue of their day-to-day activities.

In addition to their inherent community based monitoring (CBM) capacity, Arctic residents can employ standard scientific monitoring procedures in the practice of citizen science, thereby extending the reach and effectiveness of programs that rely on a limited number of trained scientists to carry out monitoring.

Indigenous and other Arctic peoples wish to impart their environmental understanding to scientific discourse, not only because they have a great deal to offer, but also because this exchange represents an important step towards full participation in resource management activities.

Hunting in Greenland/ Photo: Inge ThaulowThe CBMP believes that CBM has significant contributions to make to circumpolar monitoring efforts. As such, all aspects of CBMP development have strong consideration and integration of CBM.

The CBMP has three primary goals with respect to CBM:

To incorporate data, interpretation, and expertise from CBM in the CBMP’s efforts to detect, understand and report on significant Arctic biodiversity trends.
To make CBMP data, interpretation, and expertise available to CBM efforts.
To promote the extension and/or replication of established CBM approaches and programs to other regions of the Arctic in conjunction with existing monitoring networks.

CAFF´s Permanent Participants and other Indigenous and local organizations desire a strong CBM element within the CBMP. The communities of the Arctic region will directly benefit from the powerful information gathering and dissemination approach that the CBMP offers. Maximizing the contributions of circumpolar peoples to the CBMP will help ensure that the program is relevant and responsive to local concerns.

CAFF - through the CBMP - has undertaken a wide range of activities to facilitate and promote CBM approaches in Arctic biodiversity monitoring. These include:

Title	Publication	Description
Community Based Monitoring Handbook: Lessons from the Arctic (2010)	Community Based Monitoring Handbook- click to download	This Handbook is written to enhance the role of community based observations of current and emerging research projects in the Arctic. It: attempts to provide a broad assessment of CBM and explores the experiences of different CBM programs in an effort to highlight the best and most successful practices of each is written for a diverse audience including scientists, students, Arctic residents and government officials is applicable past Arctic regions as the main principles of Community Based Monitoring activities, such as inclusiveness, respect for and recognition of knowledge holder rights and beneficence remain the same across disciplines and geographical areas.
Lessons Learned from ECORA: An integrated ecosystem management approach to conserve biodiversity and minimise habitat fragmentation in the Russian Arctic (2009)	Lessons Learned from ECORA- click to download	Lessons learned from the ECORA project document: developing and applying the integrated ecosystem management approach in the Russian Arctic
ECORA: An Integrated Ecosystem Management Approach to Conserve Biodiversity and Minimise Habitat Fragmentation in Three Selected Model Areas in the Russian Arctic (2009) на русском:(Available in Russian)	ECORA An Integrated Ecosystem Management Approach to Conserve Biodiversity- click to download	A project of the Global Environment Facility, UNEP GRID-Arendal, CAFF and the Russian Federation to use an integrated ecosystem management strategy and action plans in Kolguev Island (Nenets), the Kolyma River Basin (Yakutia/Sakha Republic), and the Beringovsky District (Chukotka). Completed in 2009 the project has: Strengthened the enabling environment for integrated ecosystem management and developed IEM plans and strategies in model areas Developed pilot project to test integrated ecosystem management implementation strategies Helped train people to benefit from wildlife and contribute to biodiversity conservation Generated new scientific data Contributed to revitalization of science and community monitoring in the model regions Learn more about ECORA at the project´s website
How to include community based monitoring and traditional knowledge into the SAON process – a proposal on ways forward (2009)	Including CBM in SAON- click to download	Advise the development of SAON on: How to improve integration of local and Indigenous knowledge with scientific knowledge How to increase engagement of local and Indigenous people in Arctic observing networks Learn more about SAON
A Strategy for Facilitating and Developing Community Based Monitoring: Approaches in Arctic Biodiversity Monitoring (2008)	A Strategy for Facilitating and Developing Community Based Monitoring- click to download	Develop a strategy, budget, and workplan on how to incorporate community based monitoring into the CBMP
Community Based Monitoring: A Discussion Paper (2004)	Community Based Monitoring Discussion Paper- click to download	Provides the foundation for the development of a CBM component to the CBMP Describes some programs under development by some Permanent Participants that contributed to the report
The Conservation Value of Sacred Sites of Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic: A Case Study in Northern Russia (2004)	The Conservation of Sacred Sites- Click to download	A project of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, CAFF, the Arctic Council´s Indigenous Peoples Secretariat, and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency to document Russian sacred sites in the North assess their environmental significance explore appropriate protection measures

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