Background

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.

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress is an event hosted by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, and key partners. CAFF's mandate is to address the conservation of Arctic biodiversity, to communicate its findings to the governments and residents of the Arctic, and help to promote practices which ensure the sustainability of the Arctic’s living resources. The Arctic Council is a high level intergovernmental forum which promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. Member States are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America. In addition, six indigenous peoples’ organizations have been granted status as Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council. 

CAFF presented the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) at the Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council in Kiruna, Sweden, in May 2013. The ABA report contains the best available science informed by traditional ecological knowledge on the status and trends of Arctic biodiversity and accompanying policy recommendations for biodiversity conservation. The key findings of the ABA deal with the significance of climate change as the most serious underlying driver of overall change in biodiversity, the necessity of taking an ecosystem-based approach to management, and the importance of mainstreaming biodiversity by making it integral to other policy fields, for example, in development, plans and operations.

The Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna welcomed the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA), the first Arctic-wide comprehensive assessment of status and emerging trends in Arctic biodiversity, approved its recommendations encouraged Arctic States to follow up on its recommendations, and instructed Senior Arctic Officials (SAO) to ensure that a plan for further work under the Arctic Council to support and implement its recommendations is developed, and that a progress report is delivered to the next ministerial meeting (scheduled for 2015). CAFF will report to the SAOs on progress and deliverables related to implementation and an implementation plan, and related tasks are included in the CAFF Work Plan for 2013-15. Canada and Norway are lead countries on developing an implementation plan for the recommendations from the ABA.

There are also important linkages between ABA efforts and the further development and implementation of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), CAFF’s cornerstone program. The findings in the ABA will also contribute to other Arctic Council work related to protecting the Arctic environment and to sustainable development based on Arctic ecosystems. This includes Arctic Council activities such as the project on Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic (AACA) and international fora such as the Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 being developed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The ABA was be used as a basis for developing thematic biodiversity reports and for specific items in CAFF’s Actions for Arctic Biodiversity 2013-2021: implementing the recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, a long-term strategic plan for how the Arctic Council addresses issues of biodiversity conservation.

CAFF has concluded that a larger public event can contribute to present ABA findings in more depth to key audiences and to strengthen the knowledge basis for implementation of ABA recommendations. Such science-policy interface events have also been arranged around previous Arctic Council assessments, for example the conference on Arctic Ocean Acidification which was held in Bergen, Norway, in May 2013.

Organization

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress is being hosted and arranged by the the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group of the Arctic Council, and the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. The Ministry of the Environment, Finland is the Finnish focal point for CAFF (hosting the CAFF national representative) and is the Finnish contact point for the Congress.

The Organization Committee consists of:

• Cynthia Jacobson, CAFF Chair (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska)
• Aulikki Alanen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Henna Haapala, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Sari Sironen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Tom Barry, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Courtney Price, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Kári Fannar Lárusson, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Olga Pálsdóttir, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Hólmgrímur Helgason, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat

The CAFF Management Board will be consulted in decisions involving the overall direction of the Congress, and will be instrumental in follow-up on possible findings and recommendations from the Congress. They will report to the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council on the outcomes of the Congress. 

Program Advisory Committee

The Program Advisory Committee comprises a mix of qualified individuals who provide advice on key dimensions of Congress program development including the inclusion and selection of diverse and relevant program content, and linkages to other CAFF, Arctic Council, and other local, regional and global efforts. 

The Program Advisory Committee currently consists of:

• Cynthia Jacobson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska
• Aulikki Alanen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Henna Haapala, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Tom Christensen, co-chair Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, Aarhus University
• Sarah Longan, co-chair Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, North Slope Science Initiative
• Evgeny Syroechkovskiy, All-Russian Institute for Nature Conservation
• Mark Marissink, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
• Carolina Behe, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Alaska
• Camilia Zoe-Chocolate, Arctic Athabaskan Council
• Ole-Anders Turi, Sámiráððái / Saami Council
• Mike Gill, GEOBON
• Alexander Shestakov, WWF Global Arctic Programme
• Melanie Lancaster, WWF Global Arctic Programme
• Trish Hayes, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Reidar Hindrum, Norwegian Environmental Agency
• Allen Pope, International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)
• Gerlis Fugmann, Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)
• John Bengtson, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Joseph Culp, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
• Willem Goedkoop, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Starri Heiðmarsson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History
• Mora Aronsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Timo Koivurova, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland
• Donald McLennan, Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Polar Knowledge, Canada
• Tahzay Jones, U.S. National Parks Service
• Jason Taylor, U.S. National Parks Service
• Geneviève Desportes, North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)
• Neville Ash, UN Environment
• Robert Höft, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 
• Liza Jenkins, Michigan Technological University
• Marianne Kroglund, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
• Jon L. Fuglestad, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
• Patti Bruns, Arctic Contaminants Action Plan (ACAP) and Emergency Prevention Preparedness and Response (EPPR)
• Soffia Guðmundsdóttir, Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME)
• Bernard Funston, Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG)
• Maka Monture, Arctic Youth Ambassadors Program
• Tom Barry, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Courtney Price, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat
• Kári Fannar Lárusson, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna International Secretariat

 Industry Advisory Committee

Representatives from industry provided guidance and organization on issues affecting industry in the Congress program.

• Equinor
• Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP)
• Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO)
• International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA)
• Lapland Chamber of Commerce
• North Star Group
• Institute of the North
• Exxonmobil
• ConocoPhillips
• Shell
• AECOM engineering
• ENI Energy company
• Arctic Economic Council
• Anglo American
• Finnish Forest Industries
• Saami Council

Location and date

NOTE: The Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018 has been extended for a half-day on October 12 to accommodate an overwhelming demand for program content. The event now runs from October 9-12, 2018 in Rovaniemi, Finland. It previously ended on October 11.

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will be held in Rovaniemi, Finland on October 9-12, 2018. Find out more about participation, registration, accommodation and venue, and getting here and getting around.

Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, in northern Finland. It is a modern city amidst the Arctic wilderness, where culture, wild activities and fairytales come together. It is known for being the "official" home town of Santa Claus, and for viewing the Northern Lights.

Learn more about what to see and do in Rovaniemi with Visit Rovaniemi and their sights and attractions page.

The Congress will be held across three venues all within walking distance of each other: