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Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Summary for Policy Makers

Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Synthesis

Several CEN researchers contributed to the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment that was recently launched by the Arctic Council. An international team of renowned scientists compiled the report using the latest available knowledge on monitoring data, scientific documentation, and traditional knowledge. . CEN researchers Dominique Berteaux and Connie Lovejoy are co-lead authors of the report and other CEN members also contributed their expertise.

ABA PRESS RELEASE

The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council has released the “Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA),” a report containing 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 Arctic Biodiversity Assessment is a tremendous achievement," says Gustaf Lind, chair of the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council. "The recommendations will help shape Arctic conservation in the years to come and will prove itself an invaluable tool to the Arctic Council. The ABA articulates exactly how the environment is changing and signals to policymakers what needs to be done to secure the ecosystems and species that people rely on for life and livelihood. This is the information we need right now to help us achieve a sustainable future."

The key findings of the ABA deal with the:

• significance of climate change as the most serious underlying driver of overall change in biodiversity ;
  
• necessity of taking an ecosystem-based approach to management ; and
  
• importance of mainstreaming biodiversity by making it integral to other policy fields, for example, in development, plans and operations.
  

Read the entire ABA press release The Arctic Biodiversity Assessment released at Arctic Council Ministerial published on the ABA Website, May 15, 2013.

Dominique Berteaux, CEN Researcher

Undergraduate and graduate Biology/Geography students attended the second edition of the "Windows on the North" workshop entitled "research in Inuit homeland". This edition was held on April 6th and was organized by ARCTIConnexion (www.arcticonnexion.ca) in collaboration with the Nunavik information center located in Quebec city.

"Windows on the North" worshops particularly target students and researchers that conduct or will conduct research on Inuit homeland. It carries the goal to transmit knowledge concerning culture, history and contemporary realities related to northern communities via guest speakers, short presentations and open discussions. The workshop was a great success, stay tuned for the 2014 edition!

ARCTIConnexion wishes to thank the Centre d’études nordiques and the Research Group on Northern Environments BORÉAS for their financial support.

See the Facebook photo album of the workshop.

Isabel Lemus-Lauzon
Research and communication agent, ARCTIConnexion

The Committee of the Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) granted the price Malcolm Ramsay to PhD student Etienne Godin, CEN member and student at the University of Montreal, for his research project entitled "The process of thermo-erosion of the permafrost in the continuous permafrost zone ". A tie was declared between Etienne Godin’s application and Ellen Avard’s from Laval University, who also received the prize.

This $ 1,000 award is given on an annual basis to a student who has applied for a NSTP grant for a multi-year research project in the North. All research disciplines are eligible.

"Malcolm Ramsay was a biology professor at the University of Saskatchewan and a world-renowned polar bear expert. He played a major role in the studies of many young Arctic researchers and was a strong supporter of the NSTP at the University of Saskatchewan. To honour his invaluable contribution, this Award has been set up in his name in 2000. "

All NSTP special awards are be used in conjunction with NSTP grants to offset the additional costs of northern research (e.g. transportation and living costs).

Geneviève Allard
Joint Coordinator of CEN

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has allocated $ 1.4 million over seven years to UQAR to create the new Canada Research Chair Tier I on northern biodiversity. The chair holder, Dominique Berteaux, has been a CEN regular member for more than 10 years.

The research activities of the Chair aim at better understanding the functioning and structure of northern ecosystems, as well as the impacts of human activities and climate variability on northern biodiversity.

"Particular attention will be paid to the study of animal communities in cold environments because their ecological role is important, they are good ecological indicators and they are at the heart of important conservation issues in the North."

Dominique Berteaux and his close collaborator Joel Bêty also seek to integrate a strong international component to their program, in order to be better able respond to global societal issues related to environmental change affecting the circumpolar North.

The Canada Research Chair on Northern Biodiversity is a member of the Centre d’études nordiques (CEN - Centre for Northern Studies), the Quebec Center of Biodiversity Science (QCBS), and the Research Group on northern environments, BORÉAS. Dominique Berteaux also leads EnviroNorth, the NSERC CREATE training program in northern environmental sciences.