Arctic wetlands in a time of change: CAFF attends the NorBalWet meeting in Greenland
September 9, 2013 - Last week in Ilulissat, Greenland, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group of the Arctic Council provided an Arctic perspective to the Nordic-Baltic Wetlands Initiative (NorBalWet) conference, a regional initiative under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, to discuss northern wetlands and climate change.
New cooperation for conservation of Arctic breeding birds migrating along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
June 10, 2013, Anchorage, Alaska - Today, the Secretariats of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) and the Partnership for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAFP) signed a Resolution of Cooperation to better coordinate efforts to promote and protect birds along a migratory flywaythat is home to over 50 million waterbirds. The East Asia-Australasian Flyway is a major waterbird migratory route. It extends from the Arctic Circle in Russia and Alaska, southwards through East and South-east Asia, to Australia and New Zealand in the south, encompassing 22 countries. The flyway contains the migratory passage of 33 globally threatened species as designated by IUCN.
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment released at Arctic Council Ministerial
Kiruna, Sweden- May 15, 2013- The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council has 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 for biodiversity conservation.
READ MORE or visit the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment website
Migratory Bird Day 2013
Bonn/Nairobi 10 May 2013 – The annual migration of an estimated 50 billion birds— around 19 per cent of the world’s 10,000 bird species—is one of the world’s great natural wonders, yet the critical staging areas migratory birds need to complete these journeys are being degraded or are disappearing completely.
CAFF and CMS cooperate on Arctic migratory species conservation
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF), have signed a resolution of cooperation, 29 April 2013 in Budapest, Hungary, to better integrate efforts to protect and conserve Arctic migratory species. The signing was kindly hosted by the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation in the margins of their 60th General Assembly.
CAFF documentary film wins award
The film "Status and Trends in Arctic Biodiversity" has won the 2013 documentary award of the annual Green Lens Environmental Film Festival in DeKalb, Illinois.
CBMP members win prestigious award
Mike Gill, chair of CAFF's Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) and Joseph Culp, Co-Chair of the CBMP's Freshwater Montioring Group have received the prestigious Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for their dedication to Arctic nature.
The 2012 Arctic Report Card released:
The Arctic Council, through the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna’s (CAFF) Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP), has contributed to the Arctic Report Card, an annual report released today by the National Oceanic and Atmoshperic Administration (NOAA) that monitors the often-quickly changing conditions in the Arctic.
Read more about the release and CAFF's summary of terrestrial and marine ecosystem highlights
Visit NOAA's Arctic Report Card site
2012 Arctic Report Card released: Highlights from terrestrial and marine ecosystem chapters
The latest Arctic Report Card (ARC), released December 2012 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with contributions from the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), highlights “profound and continuing changes” in the Arctic marine ecosystem, a greening of the Arctic, and some alarming trends in shorebird species, along with other stories of how Arctic wildlife are responding to environmental changes.
Read more about the release and CAFF's summary of terrestrial and marine ecosystem highlights
AFF looking for early career scientists
CAFF has teamed up with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) to provide early career scientists with an excellent opportunity to become involved in CAFF's Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP).
CAFF has asked APECS to nominate representatives to participate in the CBMP, an international network of scientists, government agencies, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic's living resources.
APECS is asked to nominate representative’s to help implement the Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan within each of the following expert groups:
- Plankton
- Benthos
- Seabirds
- Marine mammals
- Fish
- Sea ice biota
The role of early career scientists would be to assist in the tasks of aggregating and analysing the data within each expert network which would then subsequently be published and presented in assessments with key findings to the Arctic Council. Early career scientists would gain experience of working on an international level and also on bridging science and policy, gain experience and insight into how science can inform policy and muchmore.
If you are a PhD student or PostDoc working on one of the themes mentioned above and are interested in these great opportunities, then please email info [AT] apecs [DOT] is with a single PDF of a statement of interest, noting your research interests, experience and your CV by 10 November 2012.
CAFF signs new Resolution of Cooperation with Ramsar and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement
On July 12 the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna and the Ramsar Secretariat signed a Resolution of Cooperation, at the 11th Ramsar Conference of the Parties, in Bucharest, Romania, bringing the two organizations together to raise awareness and promote the importance of Arctic wetlands.
New analysis of the Arctic Species Trend Index: Released at IPY (April 23, 2012)
ASTI backgrounder- ASTI quick facts
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- Read the ASTI reports
CAFF at IPY
Want to know about CAFF and Arctic Council events at IPY 2012? Click here.
Arctic settles into new phase – warmer, greener, and less ice
Arctic Report Card 2011 Released
December 1, 2011
An international team of scientists who monitor the rapid changes in the Earth’s northern polar region say that the Arctic is entering a new state – one with warmer air and water temperatures, less summer sea ice and snow cover, and a changed ocean chemistry. This shift is also causing changes in the region’s life, both on land and in the sea, including less habitat for polar bears and walruses, but increased access to feeding areas for whales.
Among the 2011 highlights are:
- Atmosphere: In 2011, the average annual near-surface air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean were approximately 2.5° F (1.5° C) greater than the 1981-2010 baseline period.
- Sea ice: Minimum Arctic sea ice area in September 2011 was the second lowest recorded by satellite since 1979.
- Ocean: Arctic Ocean temperature and salinity may be stabilizing after a period of warming and freshening.
- Acidification of sea water (“ocean acidification”) as a result of carbon dioxide absorption has also been documented in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
- Land: Arctic tundra vegetation continues to increase and is associated with higher air temperatures over most of the Arctic land mass.
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