Language not only communicates, it defines culture, nature, history, humanity, and ancestry. The indigenous languages of the Arctic have been formed and shaped in close contact with their environment. They are a valuable source of information and a wealth of knowledge on human interactions with nature is encoded in these languages. If a language is lost, a world is lost. This deep knowledge and interconnectedness is expressed in Arctic song, subs...

Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) was found to be sensitive to the warming scenarios and the model predicted that it would be extirpated in most of its range even under the milder warming scenario. This is due to its occurrence in the Arctic Ocean, which largely precludes it from moving northwards. Polar cod was predicted to be extirpated around Greenland and its abundance was largely reduced in other parts of the Arctic Ocean after 30 years of hypot...

Dramatic changes, such as sea ice loss, are projected to occur in Arctic ecosystems over the next century. Understanding how the Arctic’s living resources, including its vertebrate species, are responding to these changes is essential in order to develop effective conservation and adaptation strategies. Arctic species that are adapted to these extreme environments are expected to be displaced, in part, by the encroachment of more southerly specie...

Nucleotide diversity estimates based on the complete sequences of mitochondrial genome in the collared lemming indicate how past climate has structured the genetic component of biodiversity. Lower diversity in regions (green) affected by the northward forest expansion during the Holocene warm climatic events compared to Western Beringia, where there was no forest expansion, suggests a reduction of effective size due to regional range contracti...

Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) was found to be sensitive to the warming scenarios and the model predicted that it would be extirpated in most of its range even under the milder warming scenario. This is due to its occurrence in the Arctic Ocean, which largely precludes it from moving northwards. Polar cod was predicted to be extirpated around Greenland and its abundance was largely reduced in other parts of the Arctic Ocean after 30 years of hypot...

Distribution and observed trends of wild Rangifer populations throughout the circumpolar Arctic (from The Circum Arctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment Network, CARMA). Note: Wild boreal forest reindeer have not been mapped by CARMA and thus are not represented here. Currently wild reindeer and caribou have declined by about 33% since populations (herds) peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s (3.8 million compared to 5.6 million) which followed ...

Polar bears occur in 19 relatively discrete subpopulations with an estimated worldwide abundance of 20,000– 25,000 animals. Our knowledge of the status and trend of each subpopulation varies due to availability, reliability, and age of data. Furthermore, for many subpopulations, there is limited or no data collected over a sufficient period of time to examine trends. Based on a 2009 review of the worldwide status of polar bears, one of 19 subpopu...

Distribution and observed trends of wild Rangifer populations throughout the circumpolar Arctic (from The Circum Arctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment Network, CARMA). Currently wild reindeer and caribou have declined by about 33% since populations (herds) peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s (3.8 million compared to 5.6 million) which followed almost universal increases in the 1970s and 1980s. In Arctic Eurasia reindeer herding represents a l...

The Arctic plays host to a vast array of biodiversity, including many globally significant populations. Included among these are more than half of the world´s shorebird species, 80% of the global goose populations, several million reindeer and caribou, and many unique mammals, such as the polar bear. During the short summer breeding season, 279 species of birds arrive from as far away as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America to ...

Protected areas have long been viewed as a key element for maintaining and conserving Arctic biodiversity and the functioning landscapes upon which species depend. Arctic protected areas have been established in strategically important and representative areas, helping to maintain crucial ecological features, e.g., caribou migration and calving areas, shorebird and waterfowl staging and nesting sites, seabird colonies, and critical components of ...

The Arctic plays host to a vast array of biodiversity, including many globally significant populations. Included among these are more than half of the world´s shorebird species, 80% of the global goose populations, several million reindeer and caribou, and many unique mammals, such as the polar bear. During the short summer breeding season, 279 species of birds arrive from as far away as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America to ...

In November 2009, in an attempt to preserve the forests and slow deforestation, the Governments of Guyana and Norway signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on issues related to combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and improving sustainable development, with a particular focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the framework of REDD-plus. Within the region, Panama, the Plurinational State ...

The coastal zones highlighted in this map include some of the very last continuous ecosystems where terrestrial, coastal and marine areas are industrially unexploited. Through co-management practices, indigenous peoples can retain their traditional subsistence rights while still protecting important traditional resources for future generations.

Bird species that migrate to the Arctic coasts and wetlands arrive from nearly every corner of the planet. During the summer, the sun never or nearly never sets, resulting in a short but intensive breeding season when millions of migratory birds arrive in the Arctic to breed. The majority of these birds seek the wetlands and coastal shores of the tundra plains. No other place on Earth receives so many migratory species from nearly all corners of ...

Using the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) definition of the Arctic, the majority of the current protected area (pie cheart to the left) is in the Arctic desert biome (45%), followed by the tundra biomes (29%). When looking at the total area that is currently protected in each biome, this shows that almost a third of the desert biome is protected (right figure).

Protected areas of the Arctic as recognized by the IUCN in the World Protected Areas Database at UNEP-WCMC, 2005. Some areas, like the Dehcho territory in Canada have been placed under interim protection. Information from Russia may be incomplete. Note the lack of marine protected areas, despite their ecological significance and importance to indigenous peoples.

Namibia case study locator map, with protected areas network

The Working for Water programme was launched in 1995 and is administered through the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. The programme works in partnership with local communities which it provides with jobs, and also with government departments including the then Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Agriculture, and Trade and Industry, provincial departments of agriculture, conservation and environment, research foundations and...

All great ape species predominantly live in tropical rainforests, which are among the most carbon-rich areas in the world. This overlap between the areas where great apes occur and carbon indicates that more potential synergies between great apes and carbon conservation exist.

Net present value (NPV) is in millions of USD over a 30-year period (2000-2030) at a 4% discount rate. The NPV for local communities under a deforestation scenario would be 3,132 million USD and under a conservation scenario 5,341 million USD. The analysis shows that the local community would benefit most from a scenario under which the forest is conserved, negative effects on ecosystem services are avoided and payments for ecosystem services ar...