The Arctic Council Working Group CAFF has recently announced a major milestone in scientific cooperation in the Arctic – a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to guide national mapping organizations from the Arctic states toward production of a harmonized map, covering the entire Arctic region, with data on climate, biodiversity and other themes.
The Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure will largely contribute to improved sharing and analysis of biodiversity data across the Arctic. It will become the essential tool in helping to understand the impacts of climate change on nature, environmental management issues and the adaptability and sustainable use of all living resources in the Arctic.
To develop this resource, the national mapping organizations of eight Arctic states, have signed the Memorandum of Understanding to address the development and maintenance of the Arctic SDI.
The national mapping organizations involved in the project are: the US Geological Survey (United States); Natural Resources Canada; the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Mapping (Russia); the National Survey and Cadastre (representing Denmark and the Faroe Islands); the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Transportation (Greenland); the National Land Survey (Finland); the National Land Survey (Iceland); the Norwegian Mapping Authority; and the Swedish Mapping, Cadastre and Land Registration Authority.
To read more about the project and access the existing biodiversity data, please click here.
Source: Arctic Council