The international project BIODAFF (Biodiversity and Fluxes in Arctic Glaciated Fjords) started in 1996 as an initiative coordinated by the Institute of Oceanology PAS and the Norsk Polarinstitutt. Since its inception, several research groups and individual scientists have participated in the project (see contacts). The central idea of BIODAFF is to present the relation of strong environmental gradients and the biodiversity of local fauna in Kongsfjorden (79°N). The EU 5th Framework Concerted Action BIOMARE (2000- 2002) generated the idea of European Marine Biodiversity Sites (EMBS) - a selection of localities where marine biodiversity research will be focused in the coming years. MARBENA, another Shared Cost Activity of the EU, deals with the implementation of the BIOMARE research agenda. Two fjords located on Svalbard have been selected as EMBS - Hornsund for the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) and Kongsfjorden for Long-term Biodiversity Research (LTBR).