| Project |
Type |
# |
Outcome |
Report |
Year |
FEC |
| 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 | 11 | Coordinated transboundary management of
wetlands is needed, but different national
systems for wetland classification challenge such
efforts. There are crucial differences between
wetland classification systems. A uniform system
for comparing and harmonizing existing Arctic
wetland classifications would help to better plan
wetland actions that span borders, traditions, and
cultures. New developments should consider the
value and legacy associated with existing national
classification systems and Indigenous Knowledge
and Local Knowledge of wetland areas.
Development of new classification systems, maps
and databases should ensure that legacy data
remains useful, allow for conversion between
systems and link to Indigenous Knowledge and
use of wetlands. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 14 | Support development of wetland classification
systems and maps specific to different Arctic
Indigenous Peoples based on the words and
terms traditionally used to describe wetland
types, properties, and functions. Such maps
would support wetland stewardship and
facilitate communication of their value locally
and to policy makers. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 4 | Although the majority of Arctic wetlands remain
relatively intact, changes are already occurring
across the Arctic and wetland resilience is
needed to buffer further damage. Wetlands
are vulnerable to substantial indirect damage
e.g. through global warming, changes to
p recipitation patterns, altered hydrological flows,
and environmental pollutants. Such damage also
constitutes a broader threat to migratory animal
populations. These diverse threats to wetland
ecosystems emphasize the need for landscape
scale management with a focus on conservation,
protection and maintained resilience. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 7 | Inventory and review existing national policies
relating to wetlands with an eye on using a
watershed approach and identifying conflicting
or inconsistent goals, overlapping or unclear
responsibility among governmental departments
and entities, and gaps in communication.
Identifying and addressing these issues would
enable more effective governance of wetlands
and balancing conservation and Indigenous
and other user needs to achieve more effective
stewardship. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 13 | There are numerous models for providing
financial support to conservation or restoration of
wetlands. Each of the Arctic states has developed
ways to provide financial support for wetlands
conservation and restoration efforts. While some
of the particular strengths and benefits of each
set of policies, program or model are country
context-specific, many lessons are generalizable
and therefore useful for expanding collaboration
across the Arctic states. A systematic review
of these national-level restoration financing
initiatives would provide valuable insights into
development of effective tools. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 16 | Support long-term development of open access
spatial databases for wetland data that
allow interactive use, application of different
classification systems and on-the-fly wetland
map production. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 6 | Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and stewardship is important for successful management of Arctic wetlands. Participation and leadership by Indigenous Peoples is needed for decision-making and management of Arctic wetlands. Indigenous Peoples’ hold extensive and unique knowledge regarding the wetlands in their homelands. Inmany places, long-term indigenous stewardship has partly shaped present-day wetland biodiversity and functioning, maintaining traditional land-use practices that acts to preserve wetland resilience. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 9 | Wetland policy should recognize the legacy and future importance of Indigenous Peoples’ stewardship and the need for collaborative, integrated management of Arctic wetlands. As outlined in the Arctic Wetlands and Indigenous Peoples Study, develop pilot studies on comanagement practices to support meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in future Arctic wetlands projects, and encourage indigenous participation in developing wetlands inventories covering traditional use areas. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 2 | Actively support efforts to maintain or strengthen
natural ecosystem capacity for climate change
mitigation, primarily through conservation
and restoration measures in Arctic and Boreal
wetlands. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 18 | Inventory, harmonize and pool knowledge
about financial models and frameworks being
used to support restoration and conservation
and investigate potential pan-Arctic or transboundary
initiatives, with a particular focus on
engagement by local and Indigenous Peoples. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 8 | Improved public and policy maker understanding of wetland functions and vulnerability would likely foster greater interest in protecting and conserving Arctic wetlands and strengthen involvement in promoting sustainable wetland use. Yet, the ways in which public opinion and networks of interested commercial and civil society organizations influence the development and implementation of wetlands conservation, restoration and stewardship in the Arctic are
poorly understood. Systematic knowledge of the
array of interest organizations’ relationships to
wetlands and how they engage on questions of
balancing conservation and use would support
the development of more coherent and effective
policies. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 11 | Support research on how public opinion,
in national, regional, local, and Indigenous
communities as well as societal interests’ policy
and advocacy networks affect development
and implementation of Arctic wetlands policy,
restoration efforts, and management. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 1 | Arctic wetlands provide important ecosystem services to Arctic and global communities, including cooling the global climate. They provide clean water and buffer floods and droughts, support fisheries and hunting, support biodiversity, and act as long-term sinks for atmospheric carbon. Wetlands are an integral part of many Indigenous Peoples’ lives; they provide and sustain food security, including grazing for traditional reindeer herding. Recognition of wetlands’ importance, including in the Arctic, is growing as their role in sustaining a wide range of ecosystem services becomes better understood. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 4 | Develop pan-Arctic inventory of protected
wetlands and completed, ongoing or planned
restoration projects, Indigenous led and
partnership projects, with country cases
contributed by each Arctic State and with the list
to be managed by CAFF. Such cases can serve as
pilot and demonstration projects for other rapid
action. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 20 | Integrate wetland monitoring with CAFF CBMP
monitoring where possible, with the CBMP
Terrestrial, Coastal and Freshwater monitoring
plans. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 10 | Substantial and rapid benefits for ecosystem
services such as climate stability, biodiversity
conservation and hydrological systems could
be gained through restoration of drained or
degraded Arctic peatlands. Degraded wetlands
exist in all Arctic states and are particularly
common in Boreal regions where extensive
drainage for forestry, mining or peat extraction
has occurred, or in Tundra where vulnerable
permafrost wetlands have been degraded by
unsustainable human land-use. Re-wetting of
artificially drained or restoration of damaged
wetlands could lead to substantial increases
in natural carbon sink capacities. To achieve
long-term success, restoration efforts should
be planned together with conservation of
undamaged systems as part of a landscape scale
approach to sustainable management. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Recommendation | 13 | Develop a tool for translating between existing
national and international wetland classifications
systems, identify where there is presently no
way to translate between systems and explore
potential benefits of developing unified Arctic
and Boreal wetland classification systems. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
| Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands (RAW) | Key finding | 3 | Anthropogenic climate change is a serious threat
to Arctic wetland ecosystems and exacerbates many other threats. Widespread climate change
impacts in Arctic wetlands are ongoing and
projected to increase in this century and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to limit
these impacts. Climate-driven permafrost thaw
and increased drought conditions impacting
wetland ecosystems will cause greater fire
occurrences and shifts in hydrological flows,
affecting wetland ecosystem services and
biodiversity. Sea level change and declines in
sea ice are driving increases in coastal erosion
that threatens many coastal wetlands. Thawing
permafrost is projected to transform peatlands
from a net sink of greenhouse gases to a net
source lasting for several centuries. | Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands: Key Findings and Recommendations | 2021 | |
Arctic Council Working Group