The next meeting of the Northern Forum’s Working Group on Environment and Biodiversity (chaired by Sakhamin Afanasyev, Minister of Ecology, Nature Management and Forestry of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)) will be held on October 8, 2018, in Rovaniemi.

The agenda of the meeting includes consideration of applications for participation in the Northern Forum’s competition of environmental protection projects, as well as a discussion on regional cooperation in the field of biodiversity conservation and the development of specially protected natural territories. The speakers are representatives of the regions, members of the Working Group.

The Working Group includes the following representatives of the member states of the Northern Forum: Vladimir Pushkarev, Deputy Chairman, State Duma Committee for Regional Policy and Issues of the North and the Far East, President, Russian Centre of Arctic Exploration; Vladimir Mitkin, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Magadan Oblast; Aleksandr Korshenko, Director, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Primorsky Krai; Pavel Borzykh, Director, Krasnoyarsk Krai Directorate for Protected Areas; Vladimir Zvantcev, Deputy Minister of Environment and Rational Environmental Management of Krasnoyarsk Krai; Ivan Agapitov, Deputy Head, Office of Natural Resources Management and Environment – Head, Division of State Control, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and Agricultural Complex of Nenets Autonomous Okrug; Sergey Pikunov, Head, Environment, Wildlife and Forestry Control and Monitoring Services Agency of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra; Olga Stytsyuk, Head, Otrazhenie Local History Museum, Red Book Through the Eyes of Children Project Coordinator; Egor Vereshagin, Deputy Head, Office of Wildlife Conservation and Management, Head, Division of Wildlife Conservation and Management, Department of Agricultural Policy and Environmental Management of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug; Olga Safonova, Deputy Head, Department of Agricultural Policy and Environmental Management of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Chair, Committee for Environmental Management and Protection, Department of Agricultural Policy and Environmental Management of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

The meeting will precede the annual Arctic Biodiversity Congress which to be held in Rovaniemi, Finland on October 9-12, 2018. The Congress is being hosted and arranged by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group of the Arctic Council in close co-operation with Finland as the host country and its Ministry of Environment.

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.