Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018 kicks off week of Arctic events in Rovaniemi, October 9, 2018

Rovaniemi, Finland —Over 500 scientists, Indigenous peoples, policy-makers, government officials, industry, students, civil society and more descend on Rovaniemi, Finland for a week of events associated with the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)’s Arctic Biodiversity Congress, 2018.

CAFF, the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, Finland, is organizing the Congress to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity.

The event welcomes participants from 25 countries and addresses key issues and approaches to Arctic biodiversity conservation and protection, including perspectives from the worlds of science, business, arts, culture, and politics in 54 sessions across 4 days. Additional events focus on specific focus areas and include the Arctic Environment Ministers’ Meeting, Arctic Youth Summit, and close to 20 side meetings.

Key Congress speakers include:

• Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland
• Tiina Sanila-Aikio, President of the Sámi Parliament of Finland
• Aleksi Härkönen, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council
• Sergei Zimov, North-East Scientific Station of Pacific Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
• Dalee Sambo Dorough, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council
• Melanie Virtue, Head of CMS Aquatic Species Team, Convention on Migratory Species
• Alexander Shestakov, Head of Division, Scientific and Policy Support, Convention on Biological Diversity
• Martha Rojas Urrego, Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
• Hannele Pokka, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Sarah Conner and Usha Amin, BBC Natural History Unit, makers of Frozen Planet

For a full program and more information please visit the Arctic Biodiversity Congress website. Daily summary reports will be published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiation Bulletin.

Follow the events online

To follow the Arctic Environment Week in Rovaniemi on Twitter use:

#ABACongress

#ArcticEnv2018

#ArcticYouth

Contact:

Courtney Price

CAFF Communications Manager

+354 686 3261

Courtney@caff.is

Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna

CAFF is the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council and consists of National Representatives assigned by each of the eight Arctic Council Member States, representatives of Indigenous Peoples' organizations that are Permanent Participants to the Council, and Arctic Council observer countries and organizations. CAFF’s mandate is to address the conservation of Arctic biodiversity, and to communicate its findings to the governments and residents of the Arctic, helping to promote practices which ensure the sustainability of the Arctic’s living resources. For more information: www.caff.is

Arctic Council

The Arctic Council is a high level intergovernmental forum to provide a means for 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. Arctic Council Member States are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America. In addition to the Member States, the Arctic Council has the category of Permanent Participants who include the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Aleut International Association (AIA), Gwich'in Council International (GGI), Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) and the Saami Council (SC). For more information: www.arctic-council.org