Alien species in North-West Russian Arctic – Information campaign to prevent travellers bringing alien species to the Arctic

• Main Authors: Thomassen, Jørn, Mizin, Ivan, Polikarpov, Artem, Stokmo, Jan Arne, Bruteig, Inga E., Niemivuo-Lahti, Johanna, Josefsson, Melanie, Westergaard, Kristine Bakke
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) 2022
• Subjects: Alien species; information campaign; animation film; stowaways; travellers; measures; Fremmede arter; informasjonskampanje; animasjonsfilm; blindpassasjerer; reisende; tiltak; Arctic; Lahti; Svalbard; Arctic Council; Arktis; Arktis*; CAFF; greenlandic; Human health; PAME
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2983307

Thomassen, J., Mizin, I., Polikarpov, A., Stokmo, J.A., Bruteig, I.E., Niemivuo-Lahti, J., Josefsson, M. & Westergaard, K.B. 2022. Alien species in North-West Russian Arctic – Information campaign to prevent travellers bringing alien species to the Arctic. NINA Report 2093. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. Alien species are a serious threat to biodiversity, human health and the global economy, and perhaps especially in the Arctic where the environment is particularly vulnerable. Under the auspices of the Arctic Council through CAFF/PAME, the Arctic Invasive Alien Species (ARIAS) initiative is an important work on alien species in the Arctic. In the ARIAS Strategy and Action Plan 2017 (CAFF & PAME 2017), one of the priority actions is to develop targeted communication and dissemination measures aimed to raise awareness of invasive alien species. The project “Alien species in North-West Russian Arctic – Information campaign to prevent travellers bringing alien species to Arctic” is a direct follow-up to this prioritized action. The project focus on simple measures that travellers can take to prevent them from taking stowaways (alien species) on their trip to the Arctic. A pilot project with Svalbard as case was conducted in 2018-2019 and based on experiences from this pilot the campaign was extended to North-West Russian Arctic in 2020-2021. The main message emerges through an animation film of ca. 2 minutes. The film is produced in two versions, one in English and one in Russian, both with subtitles in 13 languages (English, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, Icelandic, Greenlandic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin and Japanese). The film and further information can be found on the project's website https://www.stoparcticaliens.com/. The information campaign has been spread through a variety of channels to travellers via, among others, internet and social media. The animation film is built up around a "border guard" (polar bear) who guards the entrance to the Arctic and meets three ...