Within the CAFF boundary there are 92 protected areas recognised under global international conventions. These include 12 World Heritage sites3 (three of which have a marine component) and 80 Ramsar sites, which together cover 0.9% (289,931 km2) of the CAFF area (Fig. 4). Between 1985 and 2015, the total area covered by Ramsar sites4 almost doubled, while the total area designated as World Heritage sites increased by about 50% in the same time period (Fig. 5). ARCTIC PROTECTED AREAS - INDICATOR REPORT 2017

Standardized metadata template, for identifying knowledge locations on Arctic Coastal Ecosystems applicable for different knowledge systems. This template was developed by the Nordic Coastal Group, composed of the Nordic representatives on CBMP Coastal. The template is intended to identify locations for Indigenous Knowledge, Scientific, Hunters Knowledge, Local Knowledge, and community-based monitoring. The template is composed of two files a Word document that provides the rationale and detailed description for the Excel sheet that allows for standardized data gathering

Status of marine mammal Focal Ecosystem Component stocks by Arctic Marine Area. STATE OF THE ARCTIC MARINE BIODIVERSITY REPORT - <a href="https://arcticbiodiversity.is/findings/marine-mammals" target="_blank">Chapter 3</a> - Page 157 - Figure 3.6.3

Figure 1-1. CBMP’s adaptive, integrated ecosystem–based approach to inventory, monitoring and data management. This figure illustrates how management questions, conceptual ecosystem models based on science, Indigenous Knowledge, and Local Knowledge, and existing monitoring networks guide the four CBMP monitoring plans––marine, freshwater, terrestrial and coastal. Monitoring outputs (data) feed into the assessment and decision-making processes and guide refinement of the monitoring programmes themselves. Modified from CAFF 2017 STATE OF THE ARCTIC TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY REPORT - Chapter 1 - Page 4 - Figure 1-1

Regional divisions of the marine Arctic, as determined by the Marine Expert Monitoring Group of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP). The Circumpolar Marine Biodiversity Monitoring plan identifies eight Arctic Marine Areas where a suite of common parameters, sampling approaches and indicators will be used. Regionally specific parameters may also be applied. Exact boundaries may change over time to reflect changing bio-physical conditions. <a href="http://caff.is/marine/marine-monitoring-publications/3-arctic-marine-biodiversity-monitoring-plan" target="_blank"> Published in the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan, Chapter 2, page20 - released in 2011 </a>

Location of long-term vegetation (including fungi, non-vascular and vascular plants) monitoring sites and programs. Comes from the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan is developed to improve the collective ability of Arctic traditional knowledge holders, northern communities and scientists to detect, understand and report on long-term change in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity. The report can be seen here http://www.caff.is/publications/view_document/256-arctic-terrestrial-biodiversity-monitoring-plan The monitoring locations are place over the Circumpolar Arctic bioclimate subzones (CAVM Team 2003) http://www.caff.is/flora-cfg/circumpolar-arctic-vegetation-map

A national Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) science advisory process was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from June 14-17, 2011 to provide science advice on the identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the Canadian Arctic based on guidance developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This science advisory process focused on the identification of EBSAs within the following marine biogeographic units: the Hudson Bay Complex, the Arctic Basin, the Western Arctic, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the Eastern Arctic. Source: <a href="http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/344747.pdf" target="_blank">Fisheries and Oceans Canada</a> Reference: DFO. 2011. Identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA) in the Canadian Arctic. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2011/055. DFO. 2011. Identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the Canadian Arctic; June 14-17, 2011. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2011/047.

In 2012 and 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted benthic imagery surveys in the Davis Strait and Baffin Basin in two areas then closed to bottom fishing, the Hatton Basin Voluntary Closure (now the Hatton Basin Conservation Area) and the Narwhal Closure (now partially in the Disko Fan Conservation Area). The photo transects were established as long-term biodiversity monitoring sites to monitor the impact of human activity, including climate change, on the region’s benthic marine biota in accordance with the protocols of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program established by the Council of Arctic Flora and Fauna. These images were analyzed in a techncial report that summarises the epibenthic megafauna found in seven image transects from the Disko Fan Conservation Area. A total of 480 taxa were found, 280 of which were identified as belonging to one of the following phyla: Annelida, Arthropoda, Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Nemertea, and Porifera. The remaining 200 taxa could not be assigned to a phylum and were categorised as Unidentified. Each taxon was identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level, typically class, order, or family. The summaries for each of the taxa include their identification numbers in the World Register of Marine Species and Integrated Taxonomic Information System’s databases, taxonomic hierarchies, images, and written descriptions. The report is intended to provide baseline documentation of the epibenthic megafauna in the Disko Fan Conservation Area, and serve as a taxonomic resource for future image analyses in the Arctic. Baker, E., Beazley, L., McMillan, A., Rowsell, J. and Kenchington, E. 2018. Epibenthic Megafauna of the Disko Fan Conservation Area in the Davis Strait (Eastern Arctic) Identified from In Situ Benthic Image Transects. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 3272: vi + 388 p.

Long-term monitoring programs on benthic fauna are missing for large areas of the Arctic. In areas where repeated monitoring has occurred, it is difficult to compare data due to different sampling approaches and different targets of monitoring efforts. There is a need for an international standardization of long- term benthic monitoring. The CBMP Benthos Expert Network has identified potential ways to improve benthic monitoring coverage, and has come up with a map showing a Pan Arctic station map.

Sites of existing lake biotic and abiotic data as compiled by the Freshwater Expert Monitoring Group (FEMG) of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Group (CBMP) Published in the CBMP Freshwater Brochure 2013 http://www.caff.is/monitoring-series/view_document/277-arctic-freshwater-biodiversity-monitoring-plan-brochure