The marine Arctic is facing rapidly changing environmental conditions that are likely to require improved and adaptive management tools to protect its specialized ecosystems. Together with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) and the Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Center Potsdam (RIFS), Ecologic institute conducts research for the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, supported by the Federal Ministry for Environment (BMUV), on potential new dynamics of Arctic marine protection and adaptive management from different angles. 

The subproject DynARC – law/indicators – is led by Ecologic Institute and has two objectives: analyzing and outlining the potential implications of a new international agreement for dynamic protection and adaptive management in the Arctic Ocean, and the development of indicators to evaluate the success of (local) implementation.

In the first work package, Ecologic Institute will review the development of the Agreement under the UN Law of the Sea Convention on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ agreement), its potential links to the marine Arctic, and its key provisions on area-based management tools, environmental impact assessments as well as capacity building, and highlight legal challenges for adaptive management and possibilities to overcome them.

The second work package develops and tests practical, locally grounded approaches to dynamic protection and adaptive marine stewardship in Arctic marine areas, with the goal of working in collaboration with Indigenous rightsholders and local partners within co-management and community-led governance. It examines how stewardship decisions can remain legitimate, operational, and effective under rapid environmental change by building from local practice and knowledge systems and connecting these, where useful, to scientific evidence and monitoring. WP2 advances an indicator-based approach that supports partners in articulating locally meaningful stewardship objectives, strengthening feasible ways of observing change, and translating observations into timely management responses. This is pursued through the co-development and testing of practical indicators and the piloting of decision supports that are usable in real-world governance settings (i.e., proportionate to local capacity and aligned with established roles, responsibilities, and boundaries). Overall, WP2 strengthens learning and decision-making for long-term resilience and biodiversity conservation and, together with WP1, may contribute to a Dynamic Management Evaluation System to assess dynamic marine protected area proposals for legal feasibility as well as ecological and governance effectiveness and adaptability, in line with rightsholder needs and Arctic biodiversity pressures.