Recommendations

Project	Type	#	Outcome	Report	Year
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Recommendation	11	Reduce the threat of pollutants to Arctic biodiversity. a. Support and enhance international efforts and cooperation to identify, assess and reduce existing and emerging harmful contaminants. b. Support the development of appropriate prevention and clean up measures and technologies that are responsive to oil spills in the Arctic, especially in ice-filled waters, such that they are ready for implementation in advance of major oil and gas developments. c. Encourage local and national action to implement best practices for local wastes, enhance efforts to clean-up legacy contaminated sites and include contaminant reduction and reclamation plans in development projects.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Recommendation	4	Require the incorporation of biodiversity objectives and provisions into all Arctic Council work and encourage the same for on-going and future international standards, agreements, plans, operations and/or other tools specific to development in the Arctic. This should include, but not be restricted to, oil and gas development, shipping, fishing, tourism and mining.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Key finding	6	There are currently few invasive alien species in the Arctic, but more are expected with climate change and increased human activity.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Recommendation	13	Increase and focus inventory, long-term monitoring and research efforts to address key gaps in scientific knowledge identified in this assessment to better facilitate the development and implementation of conservation and management strategies. Areas of particular concern identified through the ABA include components critical to ecosystem functions including important characteristics of invertebrates, microbes, parasites and pathogens.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Recommendation	6	Develop guidelines and implement appropriate spatial and temporal measures where necessary to reduce human disturbance to areas critical for sensitive life stages of Arctic species that are outside protected areas, for example along transportation corridors. Such areas include calving grounds, den sites, feeding grounds, migration routes and moulting areas. This also means safeguarding important habitats such as wetlands and polynyas.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Key finding	8	Current knowledge of many Arctic species, ecosystems and their stressors is fragmentary, making detection and assessment of trends and their implications difficult for many aspects of Arctic biodiversity.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA)	Recommendation	15	Promote public training, education and community-based monitoring, where appropriate, as integral elements in conservation and management.	Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Report for Policy Makers	2013
	Key finding		Conservation of Arctic biodiversity is a global issue, as so much that happens outside the Arctic affects what happens inside the Arctic and vice versa. Migratory species provide a good basis to develop the partnerships necessary to ensure the long term viability of shared species, and at the same time to increase awareness of the shared global heritage that Arctic biodiversity represents.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Develop tools for data sharing so that data collected can be used by a wide range of people engaged in Arctic biodiversity science, policy and management.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Key finding		There is a wide gap between what we know and how we act. Although research to fill gaps in knowledge is still needed, there is enough knowledge about what needs to be done to act now. A companion to this message is the urgent need to shorten the time it takes for scientific understanding to be translated into policy in the Arctic.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Implement Ecosystem Based Management in marine, terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Key finding		Conservation of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides requires a long-term perspective and sustained actions at many different temporal and spatial scales.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Include biodiversity in national accounting so that the true value of healthy Arctic ecosystems is understood, and the true costs of biodiversity loss are accounted for.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Develop binding agreements related to the conservation and/or sustainable use of biodiversity.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Key finding		The relationship between biodiversity and climate change is complex. While climate change has been identified as the key stressor of Arctic biodiversity, the degree to which it has a negative impact depends on complex relationships between climate change, other stressors, geography, economics, politics and management regimes.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Map biodiversity hot spots and biologically and ecologically sensitive areas at a scale appropriate for industry to use in their planning.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Develop targets to stimulate actions and against which progress can be measured.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Key finding		Credible knowledge of all kinds, and from all sources, is welcomed and needed in the Arctic. This includes science, traditional knowledge and co-produced knowledge as well as knowledge from academia, business, government, civil society and communities.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Advice		Expand both the marine and terrestrial protected areas network and monitor its effectiveness at safeguarding biodiversity.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014
	Key finding		Biodiversity policy in the Arctic has to reflect the needs of people living in the Arctic, many of whom are indigenous.	Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, Co-Chairs Report	2014