Resolution of Cooperation 1between
The Secretariat of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Groupand theGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna
The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) (www.caff.is) is the biodiversity working group of theArctic Council. Its mandate is to address the conservation of Arctic biodiversity and communicate its findings
to the governments and residents of the Arctic, helping to promote practices that ensure the sustainabilityof the Arctic’s living resources. In order to successfully conserve Arctic flora and fauna and allow forsustainable utilization, baseline data on long-term status and trends of Arctic biodiversity, habitat andecosystem health are required.
A core activity of CAFF is to provide information and data for informed decision-making on Arctic biodiversity
issues. The Arctic Biodiversity Data Service (ABDS) (www.abds.is) is the data-management framework for
managing data generated through CAFF. The ABDS is an online, interoperable data management system
which serves as a focal point and common platform for all CAFF data being gathered through its programs
and projects as well as a dynamic source for up-to-date circumpolar Arctic biodiversity information andemerging trends. It allows for discovery, archiving and access to data at various spatial, temporal, andtaxonomic scales (e.g., populations, regions, nations, circumpolar, biomes, and habitats), permitting users toexplore relationships and factors driving change. Such a framework is essential to ensure effective,consistent, and long-term management of the data resulting from CAFF and partners’ activities.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (www.gbif.org) was founded in 2001 as anintergovernmental scientific infrastructure aimed at providing free and open access to biodiversity data, via
the Internet. It offers a single online access point to more than 640 million biodiversity records publishedfrom over 15 000 datasets from 780 institutions. The GBIF operates through a network of national andthematic nodes, and its Secretariat located in Copenhagen, Denmark.
PurposeThe purpose of this Resolution of Cooperation is to strengthen collaboration between GBIF and CAFF toimprove the visibility, completeness, usefulness, complementarity and deduplication of data andinformation exchanged between them, thereby adding value to the products and services of both.
Rationale and Objectives
The Arctic plays host to a globally significant array of biodiversity. The size and nature of Arctic ecosystems
make them of critical importance to the biological, chemical and physical balance of the globe. Dramaticchanges (e.g. climate change) now underway are threatening the resilience and sustainability of the Arctic’s
biodiversity and the overall balance of its ecosystems. Continued rapid change in the Arctic will have global
repercussions affecting the planet as a whole. Enhanced availability of data and information on biodiversity
will be critical for informing decisions relating to the Arctic in the light of these changes.
GBIF’s Participant countries currently include seven of the eight member states of the Arctic Council (Russia
is not a participant, Canada is an associate participant, and the other Arctic Council member states arevoting members). The data mobilized through GBIF include over three million occurrence records from northof the Arctic Circle encompassing almost 20,000 species. These data come from over 1,000 datasets
published from institutions in 30 countries. At the same time, the CBMP mobilizes significant volumes ofdata for the purposes of its monitoring activities. Through technical and institutional collaboration, the1

For the purposes of GBIF, this Resolution of Cooperation is understood to have the equivalent status to a Memorandum ofCooperation between GBIF Secretariat and an external partner organization, being a non-binding agreement to collaborate on tasks
within broadly-defined areas and without need for formal endorsement by the GBIF Governing Board.

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respective strengths of GBIF and CAFF can add significantly to the value of the products and services of both.
The principal objective of this Resolution of Cooperation is to ensure that, to the extent possible, all data andmetadata mobilized by each signator are accessible, using appropriate standards, to the members and usersof the other thereby enhancing the quality and scope of information relating to Arctic biodiversity available
to science and society.
Areas of Cooperation
Through this Resolution of Cooperation, the signators decide:• to analyse their respective datasets to determine overlap and any gaps in each other’s networks;• to identify the data each can contribute to the other while avoiding duplication;• to agree upon a process exchanging existing data and for sharing future datasets;• to establish effective channels of communication and collaboration• to explore use of GBIF-compatible publishing software (particularly the GBIF Integrated Publishing
Toolkit [www.gbif.org/ipt]) for publishing datasets from CAFF/CBMP;• to promote each other’s programs where appropriate;• to explore further steps to enhance the accessibility and persistence of data relating to Arctic
biodiversity; and• to implement other agreed-upon activities of mutual interest.
GBIP Affiliate status
Following signature of this Resolution of Cooperation, CAFF may be described as a GBIF Affiliate. The status
of GBIF Affiliate does not confer any rights or responsibilities within the GBIF governance structure, and nofees shall be associated with this affiliation. Affiliate status signifies CAFF as a partner organization working
with GBIF towards common goals based on this Resolution of Cooperation with GBIF Secretariat. This statuswill be represented in GBIF communications, including on its website www.gbif.org, and CAFF is encouraged
to refer to this connection in its own communications.
Modification, termination and other conditions
The Resolution of Cooperation establishes a formal relationship between the signators. It does not establish
any new or separate legal entity. Nothing in the Resolution of Cooperation alters the statutory authorities
and responsibilities of the signators, where these are applicable. It is intended to facilitate those authorities
thorough cooperative action.
The Resolution of Cooperation may be modified or amended in writing upon the request of a signator withthe concurrence of the other. A signator may terminate its participation in the Resolution of Cooperation at
any time with written notice to the other signator three (3) months prior to such withdrawal.
GeneralAny materials, including software products and publications, produced as a result of this Resolution ofCooperation will be freely and openly available. Any differences between the signators concerning theinterpretation and the application of this RoC, or any document or arrangement relating thereto, shall besettled by negotiation between the signators. If the issue is not settled by negotiation or by another agreed
mode of settlement, it shall, at the request of either signator, be submitted to a conciliator.
Implementation
The present Resolution of Cooperation will be effective upon signature by the Chair of CAFF and the Directorof the GBIF Secretariat.

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For the Secretariat of the Conservation of Arctic
Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF)

For the Secretariat of the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility_____________________
Reidar Hindrum
CAFF Chair_____________________
Donald Hobern
Director

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