Traditional Knowledge & Community Based Monitoring. Progress report 2015. CAFF activities and next steps in facilitating engaging TK and CBM.

Abstract

The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Arctic Council working group has a longstanding recognition of the importance of Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Community Based Monitoring (CBM) and has endeavoured to incorporate them into its work plans. This includes in particular, the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) and the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA). TK and CBM are often discussed together, however, CAFF recognizes them as distinct, understanding that TK is a systematic way of knowing and CBM as a tool used to collect observation data. Over the past few years, considerable progress has been made in initiatives to engage TK and CBM that furthers the goals of the Arctic Council, including Canadian Chairmanship priorities. This progress report provides a brief summary of CAFF’s work in this area and next steps in facilitating engaging TK and CBM.