EBM1: The CBMP Arctic Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring Plan: Monitoring and reporting important changes in the biodiversity of Arctic coastal ecosystems – Plan development and evaluation

Date: Thursday October 11, 2018

Location: Tieva, Lappia Hall

Time: 8:30-10:00

This session will present, discuss and invite evaluation of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program’s (CBMP) Arctic Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring Plan. The overall goal of the Coastal Plan is to provide a general circumpolar framework for monitoring and reporting important biodiversity changes in Arctic coastal ecosystems in member nations with Arctic coastlines – Russian Federation, Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, the USA and Canada. A key challenge is to develop a plan that is sufficiently broad to allow member nations to implement national approaches, while maintaining sufficient structure to be able to report in a coordinated circumpolar context. Presentations will cover the overall structure and approach of the Coastal Plan, the approach to co-generating both Indigenous knowledge and science to inform the Plan, the process to arrive at a prioritized list of Coastal Focal Ecosystem Components across nations, new monitoring developments arising from the Plan, and a summary of national implementation approaches. The session will close with a panel and discussion/input from the audience to provide comments to improve the Plan. We will also invite session attendees to review the Plan and provide feedback to the Coastal Expert Monitoring Group as part of the final review process for the Plan.

Chairs: Donald McLennan, Polar Knowledge Canada - Canadian High Arctic Research Station; Tahzay Jones, US National Park Service

Format: Series of presentations followed by moderated discussion

Presenters:

1. The Coastal Plan – Process, general structure, and approach: Tahzay Jones, US National Park Service  
2. Co-generation of knowledge to inform the Coastal Plan: TBC 
3. Selection, quality assurance and prioritization of Focal Ecosystem Component: Susse Wegeberg, Aarhus University 
4. Coastal ecosystems of Russian Federation - status of information and prospects for integrated monitoring: Liudmila Sergienko, Petrozavodsk State University and Tatiana Minayeva, associate expert of Wetlands international  
5. If you build it they will come - A new coastal monitoring program for Svalbard: Paul Renaud, Akvaplan-niva - Norwegian Institute for Water Research 
6. Moderated discussion: First thoughts on national implementation of the Coastal Plan: Donald McLennan, Polar Knowledge Canada - Canadian High Arctic Research Station

Abstracts:

The Coastal Plan – Process, general structure, and approach

Tahzay Jones, US National Park Service, Donald McLennan, Polar Knowledge Canada

This presentation will outline the consultative process used to develop the Coastal Plan, a process that has included 3 international workshops to solicit the input of both TK and science experts. The plan is the last in the series of four CAFF-CBMP monitoring plans and is structured using approaches implemented by the three proceeding plans. The plan approach is to identify and build on coastal monitoring that is already taking place to initiate assessments of Arctic coastal biodiversity , and to use this process to identify and recommend new monitoring that needs to be established to meet goals outlined in the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment.

Co-generation of knowledge to inform the Coastal Plan

Carolina Behe, Inuit Circumpolar Council

This presentation will describe the incorporation of a co-generation of knowledge approach to inform monitoring outcomes for the Coastal Plan. In the course of Coastal Plan development we solicited the input of both science and indigenous experts in coastal biodiversity in three separate international workshops. Based on this input the Coastal Plan has been developed to provide for the inclusion of Traditional Knowledge in those areas of the Arctic where there is an opportunity to include these expert contributions.

Selection, quality assurance and prioritization of Focal Ecosystem Component

Susse Wegeberg, Aarhus University

This presentation will outline the process that was implemented to arrive at the prioritized list of Focal Ecosystems Components(FECs), Attributes and Parameters for the Coastal Plan. Reporting on the state of the identified FECs is at the heart of the Coastal Plan so that prioritization and selection was crucial to Plan development. The process included consideration of the FECs from previous CBMP plans, science and TK input from three international workshops, input form CEMG members, and finally direct input into a prioritization process from both IK and science experts.

Coastal ecosystems of Russian Federation - status of information and prospects for integrated monitoring

Liudmila Sergienko, Petrozavodsk State University; Tatiana Minayeva, Wetlands International; Maria Gavrilo, Association Maritime Heritage: sustain & explore; Vadim Mokievsky, P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences; Vasily Spiridonov, P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences; Igor Semenov, Ethnoexpert, Anatoly Kochnev, Laboratory of Ecology of Mammals

We would like to tell about the work that is being carried out in various areas of the investigation of the coastal zone of the Russian Federation-to indicate that the coastal zone has a holistic functional state, to clarify in what areas work is being carried out in the Russian Federation - the mammals, the coastal flora and vegetstion, the birds, the bentic fauna etc. We will also present our views on INDICATOR species of coastal biota with a justification for why we believe so. Tatiana Minayeva (Minajewa),,associate expert,Wetlands International, Wageningen, the Netherlands; Maria Gavrilo-CBirds member from Russian Federation, Association Maritime Heritage: sustain & explore, PhD, St. Petersburg; Vadim Mokievsky, member of marine group expert, Dr.Sci.Biol., P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Vasily Spiridonov, Dr.Sci.Biol. P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, former project coordinator for the conservation of marine biodiversity of the WWF; Igor Semenov, General Director of "Ethnoexpert", St. Petersburg, specialist on indigenous peoples of the North. Kochnev, Anatoly, PhD,senior researcher, laboratory of ecology of mammals.

If you build it they will come - A new coastal monitoring program for Svalbard

Paul Renaud, Akvaplan-niva; Dr. Anita Evenset, Akvaplan-niva; Guttorm Christensen, Akvaplan-niva

In order to accommodate future monitoring needs in the marine environment around Svalbard, both in accordance with the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), a proposal for basic monitoring around Svalbard has been prepared. Surveillance in Svalbard will be costly, so proximity to established logistics and coordination with relevant ongoing activities were part of the foundation for the monitoring plan. Quality elements such as phytoplankton, macroalgae, soft-bottom benthos, and hard substrate colonization have been selected, and relevant physical / chemical support parameters are included. Several station networks representing different levels of workload and financial resources have been prepared. With initial sampling conducted during Summer 2018, this network is the most ambitious coastal monitoring project to be conducted on Svalbard, with high relevance for monitoring climate change and introduced species, and addressing the goals of the developing CBMP-Coastal plan.

Moderated discussion: First thoughts on national implementation of the Coastal Plan

Donald McLennan, Polar Knowledge Canada - Canadian High Arctic Research Station

The presentation will provide a summary of national approaches to implementing the Coastal Plan and moving forward with a first assessment of the state of circum-arctic coastal biodiversity. Each country will begin the reporting process using existing coastal monitoring programs. This process will result include a co-generation of knowledge approach where appropriate, and will result in the first State of Arctic Coastal Biodiversity Report (SACBR). The production of the SACBR based on existing monitoring programs will also identify critical monitoring gaps that presently exist - gaps that prevent completion of national and international monitoring and reporting obligations for Arctic coastal biodiversity.