Recommendations

Ensure Indigenous Knowledge is incorporated into white geese impacts research and mitigation measures

3.1 Continue to include Indigenous Knowledge in future work through co-development of management priorities for western geese.

Improve conservation and management of shorebird sites throughout the African-Eurasian flyway

1.1 Secure intertidal habitat of Arctic-breeding shorebirds in Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau

1.2 Ensure identification and documentation of key sites for shorebirds in available format as a tool for national/international sustainable site management

Secure intertidal and associated habitat for AMBI priority species at key staging and wintering sites in the Central and East Asian Flyways.

2.1 (Russia): Ensure improvement of protection of the Russian Far East coastal shorebird stopover sites, by providing information to support local and national decision making on key habitat identification and conservation, including consideration of the new Nature Park in Chukotka and prioritising recovery of closed protected area at Moroshechnaya river mouth in Kamchatka.

2.2 (United States): Gather better information on the abundance, distribution and habitat use of Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwits at spring and fall staging sites in Alaska.

2.3 (China): Enhance protection of Jiangsu Coast ecosystem, especially the Rudong and Dongtai areas for Spoon-billed Sandpiper and other Arctic-breeding shorebirds considering World Heritage Site Nomination requirements.

2.4 (China): Enhance protection of the Luannan Coast especially Nanpu, Tangshan for Red Knot and other Arctic-breeding shorebirds.

2.5 (China): Enhance protection at Yalu Jiang, Liaoning for Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Great Knot and other Arctic shorebirds.

2.6 (China): Increase knowledge of key staging and wintering Arctic-breeding shorebirds sites in southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian provinces) and improve conservation status of these sites.

2.7 (Republic of Korea): Support efforts to reverse declining trends of AMBI priority species (SBS, Great Knot, Dunlin and other) and improve habitat conservation along the flyway through sharing knowledge and international cooperative projects.

2.8 (Republic of Korea): Promote the importance of conserving Korea.

Contribute to the implementation and development of regional flyway initiatives:
7.1 Promote and support the implementation of regional strategies and flyway initiatives
7.2 Encourage/coordinate the development of an American Mid- continental Flyway strategy

Work with partners to increase the number and quality of population estimates of Arctic-breeding waterbirds in the Central and East Asian Flyways

4.1 (All countries): Work with partners such as EAAF Partnership, Wetlands International and other partners to improve population estimates for AMBI priority species by supporting collation of up-to-date information on estimates and trends.

4.2 (All countries): Cooperate with partners such as the EAAF Partnership Waterbird Monitoring Task Force, Wetlands International, BirdLife International and the Global Flyway Network to strengthen monitoring of Arctic-breeding migratory waterbirds along the flyway, particularly in the Yellow Sea and Southeast Asia.

Harvest assessments and mitigation of unsustainable harvest of Arctic birds

2.1 Work with CBird to promote dialogue with authorities for management plans to combine the knowledge of status of hunted species between countries

2.2 Assess the population-level impact of seabird harvest in relation to other stressors

2.3 Conduct/update holistic harvest studies for circumpolar regions of interest using approaches tailored to regional contexts as appropriate

Tracking trends in Arctic marine vertebrates.

2.1 The trend for marine fish is very similar to the trend for all marine species, increasing from 1970 to about 1990 and then levelling off. This indicates that the ASTI is strongly influenced by fish trends. Overall, marine mammals also increased, while marine birds showed less change.

2.2 The three ocean regions, Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic, differed significantly in average population trends with an overall decline in abundance in the Atlantic, a small average increase in the Arctic and a dramatic increase in the Pacific. These differences seem to be largely driven by variation in fish population abundance—there were no significant regional differences for birds or mammals.

2.3 Pelagic fish abundance appears to cycle on a time frame of about 10 years. These cycles showeda strong association with a large-scale climate oscillation.

2.4 The ASTI data set contains population trends for nine sea ice associated species. There were mixed trends among the 36 populations with just over half showing an overall decline.

2.5 The Bering Sea and Aleutian Island (BSAI) region of the Pacific Ocean is well studied, providing an opportunity to examine trends in more detail. Since 1970, BSAI marine fish and mammals showed overall increases, while marine birds declined. However, since the late 1980s, marine mammal abundance has declined while marine fish abundance has largely stabilized.

The Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI): 2011 update.

1.1 Average abundance of Arctic vertebrates increased from 1970 until 1990 then remained fairly stable through 2007, as measured by the ASTI 2011.

1.2 When species abundance is grouped by broad ecozones, a different picture emerges, with low Arctic species abundance increasing in the first two decades much more than high Arctic and sub Arctic species abundance. The low Arctic index has stabilized since the mid-1990s while the high Arctic index appears to be recovering in recent years and the sub Arctic index has been declining since a peak in the mid-1980s.

1.3 The trend for Arctic marine species is similar to that of the overall ASTI, while the trend for terrestrial species shows a quite different pattern: a steady decline after the early 1990s to a level below the 1970 baseline by 2005.