Workshop on biodiversity in Iceland
On April 23, 2024, the collaborative platform BIODICE held a full-day workshop on biodiversity in Iceland. The workshop took place at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland that is placed in Hafnarfjörður. The aim of the workshop was to analyze and discuss the issue of biological diversity in a broad context as it appears in Icelandic administration. The topic is related to the project The Nordic Biodiversity Framework, for which BIODICE, and partners in Denmark and Finland, recently received a grant from the Nordic Working Group on Biodiversity under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Representatives of ministries and related parties who work with biodiversity issues in the highest levels of administration were invited to the workshop, including representatives of the steering group on policy and implementation plan for biological diversity. The program consisted of lectures in the morning and group work in the afternoon. The talks covered the importance of biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (the United Nations policy on biodiversity), the Nordic Biodiversity project and the work of the steering committee on policy and implementation plans for biodiversity. In addition, Katherine Richardson from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Hanna-Kaisa Lakka from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland gave presentations, but they are partners in the Nordic Biodiversity project. In the afternoon, the participants were divided into four groups and the discussions were related to certain questions. Secretaries from BIODICE were in all groups that took down points that will be, among other things, used in reporting for the Nordic Biodiversity project. This report and other products of the project will be useful to the Nordic governments when implementing the Kunming-Montreal policy on biodiversity.
The workshop was successful and very well attended, with around 40 people participating. Of these, there were representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Children, the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also participating were representatives from the Icelandic Regional Development Institute, the Directorate of Health, the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Hólar University, the University of Iceland, the Land and Forestry Institute, the Icelandic Environment Association, the Food Research Company – Matís, the Icelandic Natural History Institute, the Icelandic Museum of Natural History, the Southwest Iceland Nature Research Centre, the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities, the Icelandic National Planning Agency, the Environment Agency of Iceland, the Icelandic Youth Environmentalist Association, Vatnajökull National Park, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration and the Thingvellir National Park.
Analysis of the focus groups showed that there is generally a shallow understanding of the concept of biological diversity, except where experts in life sciences work. Although the issue affects the work of all participants to some extent, the connection was unclear in many cases. Participants specifically mentioned the links of biodiversity to public health and prevention, the global goals and sustainable development, climate change, and planning issues. Participants mentioned many obstacles to projects on biodiversity, including weak administration and lack of resources, and made enthusiastic and useful suggestions for improvement. A report will been published with the results of the workshop.
The Nordic Biodiversity Framework organized two other workshops; in Finland in October 2024 and in Denmark in December 2024.
Snorri Sigurðsson at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History and a staff member of a policy group on biodiversity introduced the goals and targets of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
Bjarni Kristófer Kristjánsson at Hólar University talked about target 6 in the GBF on invasive alien species.
Katherine Richardson at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate (CMEC) at Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen in Denmark had an online presentation. Katherine is the leader of the Nordic Biodiversity Framework project in Denmark.
Hanna-Kaisa Lakka at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä in Finland had a presentation, she is the leader of the Nordic Biodiversity Framework project in Finland.
Sigríður Svana Helgadóttir, the leader of a governmental policy group on biodiversity introduced their work.
More information on the Nordic Biodiversity Framework