The CBMP receives GEO BON endorsement 7 February 2012BiodiversityMonitoringConservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), the cornerstone program of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group, received official endorsement from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) in January 2012. CBMP now belongs to the GEO BON regional network Arctic-BON. Arctic-BON is one of five regional networks. The other four are AP BON (which includes ASEAN CB), F-BON (France/ECOSOPE), EBONE (Europe), and J-BON (Japan). The CBMP is an international network of scientists, government agencies, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic’s living resources. The CBMP includes over 80 organizations and 700 individuals. The CBMP goal is to facilitate more rapid detection, communication, and response with respect to the significant biodiversity-related trends and pressures affecting the circumpolar world. GEO BON was formed in February 2005 as a way to bring together different monitoring programs and scientific databases to create a global network for biodiversity monitoring. Over 80 governments and 50 international organizations are currently working through GEO BON to form a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) network. The purpose of the GEOSS is to construct a complete picture of global biodiversity, as well as trends and changes. Since the Earth's biosphere is a vast and complex system it is important to integrate data from many different sources in order to avoid information gaps. Using the GEOSS, information on biodiversity can be complemented with data on climate, weather, geology, pollution, and threats to give an accurate picture of the dynamic systems at work.