Recommendations

CHALLENGE Research is not year-round and data gaps are many in the remote Arctic.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom can fill data gaps since observations are year-round and often draw on long time frames

Suggestions for Wetlands Planning, Research, and Management.

1. Document Indigenous wetland resource use to allow management authorities to make decisions that respect and accommodate Indigenous resource use by ensuring that subsistence activities are not unnecessarily impeded by management actions. Information may be collected on subsistence species, types of subsistence practices, levels of reliance, and legal access.
2. Develop protected area participation plans to specify cooperative objectives, participating entities, and terms of evaluation so that management authorities can continue to engage Indigenous Peoples when experiencing turn-over.
3. Broaden wetland research priorities to further the goals of biodiversity conservation and Arctic food security by (1) conducting research with Indigenous knowledge holders on wetland ecosystems, (2) examining the intersection of wetland biodiversity and Arctic food security, and (3) prioritizing species of both conservation and subsistence interest.
4. Support community-based wetlands monitoring to help researchers and managers partner with Indigenous knowledge holders, identify ecosystem services, monitor for rapid environmental change, support year round sampling, support collection of current and historic observational information, and reinforce results from scientific studies.
5. Connect beyond wetlands so as to explore the interactions between and beyond inland and coastal wetlands and examine opportunities between CAFF projects such as RMAWI, the Salmon Peoples of the Arctic, the Seabird Working Group, and the Arctic Migratory Bird Initiative to further facilitate research on Indigenous relationships with Arctic biodiversity.
6. Foster engagement in wetlands management productively by (1) approaching Indigenous participation as an opportunity, (2) seeking to build partnerships with Indigenous governments, organizations, and communities, (3) engaging Indigenous leadership and communities at the beginning of the process, and (4) welcoming elders to participate while actively recruiting Indigenous youth to contribute to management and conservation decisions.

Monitoring Methods

• Harmonize sampling approaches among countries and select appropriate sampling methods andequipment to balance between maintaining consistency and comparability with historical data andalignment with common methods used across the Arctic.
• Use a regionalized approach based on ecoregions to guide the spatial distribution of sample stations and, ultimately, provide better assessments.
• Ensure spatial coverage of sampled ecoregions is sufficient to address the overarching monitoring questions of the CBMP across the Arctic and provide sufficient replication.
• Maintain time series at key locations, and fill gaps where monitoring data are sparse.
• Develop supplementary monitoring methods that provide better standardized estimates of biodiversity to maximize the likelihood of detecting new and/or invasive species.
• Make use of recent advances in emerging technologies, including environmental DNA (eDNA) methods and remote sensing approaches.
• Standardize data storage practices and provide access through a common data source like GBIF.