Mark van Veen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), stated that the event would present findings from the PBL’s reports “Rethinking Global Biodiversity Strategies” and “Breaking Boundaries for Biodiversity: Expanding the Policy Agenda to Halt Biodiversity Loss.”

Maarten Hajer, PBL, argued that trade chains bring local biodiversity loss to a global scale. He suggested that globally sustainable trade, national spatial planning and sustainable local development are critical to stopping biodiversity loss.

Margarita Salazar, Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), explained that countries within the Commission undertook an initiative to implement GLOBIO3 modelling methodologies to help them assess human-induced changes on terrestrial biodiversity at various scales.

Suyapa Triminio, Regional Strategic Biodiversity Monitoring and Evaluation Program (PROMEBIO), explained that PROMEBIO had coordinated the CCAD’s initiative, and that the GLOBIO3 methodology was developed by PBL in collaboration with other partners. She described training workshops to familiarize technical experts with the modeling tools as well as local officials with how to incorporate modeling results into decision making. She said decision makers hope to use the modeling tools to determine possible impacts of trade agreements and green development alliances in Central America.

Helen Mountford, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said agricultural expansion will be a major driver of biodiversity loss. She highlighted the potential role of eco-labelling and certification schemes as one of many options to reduce its impacts, but highlighted challenges associated with these schemes. Pointing to an OECD survey of 10,000 households across 10 countries on environmental policy and household behaviour related to five consumption areas, she said energy labeling has thus far been more successful than organic food labeling.

Participants discussed: the danger of making simple linkages between global trade and biodiversity loss; the potential to learn from the Netherlands’ zoning strategies for intensive agricultural production while retaining biodiversity-rich areas; the resources needed to engage in modeling exercises to enable such zoning; tracking the impacts of modeling exercises on policy decision making; and the implications of data sources on the outcomes of modeling exercises.

Margarita Salazar, Central American Commission on Environment and Development

Noting that land use and conversion are major drivers of biodiversity loss, Maarten Hajer, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, discussed two options to overcome this challenge: separating agriculturally-intensive areas from biodiversity-rich areas; and combining biodiversity-rich areas with agricultural and urban areas.

This event presented the report of the Arctic Council’s Working Group on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, “Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010: Selected Indicators of Change.” The report is the first output of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA). The Assessment’s results will be launched in 2013.

Karen Ellemann, Minister of Environment, Denmark, said the ABA will provide a thorough understanding of changes in the Arctic, which in turn will provide a foundation and impetus for political decisions, including on adaptation strategies.

Participants watched a short film that outlined the report’s seven key findings, namely that: unique Arctic habitats for flora and fauna have been disappearing over recent decades; some of the species that are important globally and to Arctic people are decreasing; climate change is emerging as the dominant stressor on Arctic biodiversity; although the extent of Arctic protected areas has increased, marine areas remain under-represented; changes in Arctic biodiversity provide challenges and opportunities for Arctic people; long-term observations are required to identify changes in biodiversity; and changes in Arctic biodiversity have global repercussions.

Gunn-Britt Ritter, Saami Council, explained that the Saami Council is one of six indigenous groups that has permanent participant status to the Arctic Council. She said the Arctic Council provides a unique model for collaboration between Arctic states, indigenous peoples’ organizations and research organizations, which enables both science and traditional knowledge to inform political decision making.

Mark Marrisink, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, explained that the ABA will provide a description of the current state of the Arctic’s ecosystems and biodiversity and creates a baseline for use in global and regional assessments of Arctic biodiversity. He said it will include policy options and their implications for use by policy makers. Marrisink added that some of the first report’s findings were incorporated into the Global Biodiversity Outlook.

Tom Christensen, National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark, stated that Arctic biodiversity has global importance because: physical changes in the Arctic are occurring on a large scale relative to the rest of the world, which affects biodiversity; some of the Arctic’s biodiversity and habitats exist only in the Arctic; and the Arctic is an important region for many migratory species.

On the importance of the ABA, Christensen emphasized that it is the first step to developing a foundation of data, collected in a systematic and coordinated manner, to inform future decision making. Inge Thaulow, Greenland’s Ministry of Environment and Chair of the ABA, added that the Arctic Council has already started to follow up on some of the first report’s key findings.

Participants discussed: linkages between the Arctic Council’s work and the CBD, as well as work under other multilateral environmental agreements; capacity-building needs to ensure full participation of indigenous populations, including training to communicate traditional knowledge; and steps the Arctic Council can take to address under-representation of marine areas in protected areas. Participants offered numerous suggestions for future collaboration to further the Arctic Council’s work and raise the profile of Arctic biodiversity globally.

Karen Ellemann, Minister of Environment, Denmark, listed stressors to Arctic biodiversity, including: climate change; contaminants; invasive species; shipping; and increased habitat fragmentation.

Gunn-Britt Ritter, Saami Council, explained how indigenous peoples’ organizations contributed to the report’s key findings, including on identifying the challenges and opportunities that changes in Arctic biodiversity create for indigenous populations.

Inge Thaulow, Greenland’s Ministry of Environment and Chair of the ABA