Purpose

The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, Finland, is organizing the Arctic Biodiversity Congress, 2018 to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity. The Congress is relevant to all who wish to make specific and significant contributions to the conservation of Arctic biodiversity through dialogue among scientists, Indigenous peoples, policy-makers, government officials, industry, students, and civil society.

Goals

• To advise the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) on national and international implementation of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) policy recommendations and on any changes to future phases of the Actions for Biodiversity 2013-2021

• To consider and report on how the Arctic has fared in relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Aichi Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals

• To relate the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council to other global processes (i.e., IPBES, CMS, CBD, etc.) 

• To facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on implementation of ABA policy recommendations among scientists, government officials, policy makers, Indigenous peoples, and industry representatives  

• To provide scientific, policy, NGO, academia and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA policy recommendations

• To highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council in circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development 

• To mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services ensuring that the ABA policy recommendations are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across various disciplines 

• Increase the visibility of Arctic biodiversity in global settings, and raise CAFF and the Arctic Council's profile amongst target audiences as a credible, reliable and authoritative voice in Arctic biodiversity research and policy. 

Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018 is the second Arctic Biodiversity Congress and builds on the great success of the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014, held in Trondheim, Norway, which brought 450+ leaders, experts, practitioners, from 26 countries together to discuss and advance major conservation issues facing the Arctic and the world. This event received overwhelming positive feedback; a post Congress survey found that respondents rated the event as 4.3/5, or “excellent”, and that there is great anticipation amongst the Arctic science and policy community for the Arctic Biodiversity Congress, 2018 

For more information on the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014 including the program and previous presentations, please click here.