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Workshop on Ecosystem-Based Management Concludes: Managing Arctic marine ecosystems requires international, multidisciplinary, and cross-sectoral cooperation

December 17, 2024
To promote healthy and productive oceans and enhance sustainability of Arctic Ocean industries, the Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council (2023-2025) has focused on integrated ocean management. One important tool for regulating human activities to avoid critical impacts on the ecosystem is the Ecosystem Approach to Management.

As part of its Chairship Program, Norway hosted the third International Conference on Ecosystem Approach to Management in Arctic Large Marine Ecosystems earlier this year. To follow up on the conference’s important outcomes, the Norwegian Chairship and international partners recently convened a workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark, to identify effective ways to promote international collaboration for producing, accessing, synthesizing, and sharing knowledge of the Central Arctic Ocean among organizations and Working Groups involved in the production of relevant knowledge, and those using this knowledge as a basis for advice and management decisions.Arctic warming, retreating sea ice, and increased human activity are causing unprecedented changes with far-reaching consequences for Arctic marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them. Ecosystem-based management – or ecosystem approach to management (EA) – is an established practice that offers approaches to address these challenges. The third International Conference on Ecosystem Approach to Management in Arctic Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), held in April 2024 in Tromsø, Norway, highlighted the importance of effective cooperation to ensure a safe and sustainable future for the Arctic. The Arctic Council and other international bodies view the ecosystem approach to LMEs as an important ongoing and future step to achieve this. For more information and to learn about the conference outcomes, read the conference report.

To follow up on these outcomes and prepare for continued work under the upcoming Arctic Council Chairship of Kingdom of Denmark commencing in May 2025, a workshop was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 10-12 December 2024. The workshop brought together 28 in-person and 11 online representatives from organizations representing Arctic governance, science and Indigenous Peoples to discuss and identify effective ways to promote international collaboration that can produce, share, access, synthesize, and make evidence-based advice relevant to EA in Arctic LMEs. During three intensive workshop days, participants discussed the information needed by organizations with mandates to provide management advice or make management decisions. They explored who can produce and deliver this information, and how the collection, assessment, synthesis and sharing of relevant information can be made more effective across the involved organizations and Working Groups.

Picture: Panel debate with organizations having mandate to give management advice and/or make management decisions. From left: BBNJ (Vito De Lucia), OSPAR (Eirik Drabløs Pettersen), BBNJ (Kjell Kristian Egge), Indigenous knowledge (Nicole Wojciechowski), CAOFA (John Bengtson) and Governance (Fredrik Juell Theisen).
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The group discussed and identified needs and opportunities for enhanced cooperation related to the following topics:

  • How to promote a trustful and open pipeline of cooperation, coordination, and communication among Arctic Council Working Groups and other organizations engaged in gathering, synthesizing, analyzing and assessing relevant marine data, ecosystem information and knowledge.
  • Relevant EA observational data from the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO), the Atlantic and Pacific gateways.
  • Vulnerable and valuable marine habitats and species: Common needs to synthesize relevant environmental and biodiversity data including spatial analysis and assessments to identify a potential interconnected and adaptive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
  • Present human activities and pressures that pose a possible risk to the living ecosystem: Synthesising relevant environmental and ecosystem information and assess the possible overlap with the pressures from human activities and finding ways to communicate “risk” spatially on maps.
  • Coherent processes that synthesise relevant knowledge into evidence-based advice: Showing areas of vulnerability and risk that need awareness from governance of human activities (review based open non-political process without advocacy).
  • How to evaluate the effectiveness of the adaptive EA process: Needs to evaluate how well the EA process for Arctic LME’s responds in relation to the targets set, the rapid changes in climate and the needs and values of the people living in the Arctic.

The outcomes from the workshop and the 3rd EA conference provide a robust foundation for Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands to build upon Norway’s efforts and enhance cooperation across relevant organizations. As ICES General Secretary Alan Haynie states: “Our partnership with the Arctic Council allows both organizations to leverage the impact of our work and contribute more to our members countries and marine science. Personal connections built and deepened in this workshop will allow us to expand our collaboration in exciting new directions.”

The next step to enhance this cooperation is already underway, As the PAME-EA co-lead Lis Lindal Jørgensen states: The joint PAME-CAFF-AMAP-SDWG expert group on EA have started planning the fall 2025 “Value and Valuation” workshop led by Indigenous Permanent Participants.

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