Monitoring and Assessment Group (HELCOM MONAS)

The Monitoring and Assessment Group looks after one of HELCOM’s key tasks by assessing trends in threats to the marine environment, their impacts, the resulting state of the marine environment, and the effectiveness of adopted measures. This work forms the basis for the work of HELCOM’s other main groups, and helps to define the need for additional measures. HELCOM MONAS aims to ensure that HELCOM’s monitoring programmes are efficiently used through horizontal co-ordination between the Commission’s five permanent working groups.

• HELCOM MONAS provides specific information to other HELCOM main groups, ad hoc groups and projects on significant problems and the areas affected.
• Each permanent group, ad hoc group and project reports to HELCOM MONAS on their requirements for environmental monitoring and pollution load monitoring, and also on their own inputs to monitoring and assessment products.
• HELCOM MONAS co-ordinated the development of HELCOM Ecological Objectives and is the body coordinating development of associated indicators and monitoring programmes, ensuring that other permanent working groups, ad hoc groups and projects are duly involved and provide the necessary inputs.

The priority areas of HELCOM MONAS

1. To implement the ecosystem approach to manage human activities affecting the marine ecosystem and its living resources

•  Develop a core set of HELCOM indicators  that support the elaboration of indicator-based thematic assessments, holistic assessments, and implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), by allowing the evaluation of progress towards HELCOM Ecological Objectives agreed upon in the BSAP.

2. To produce targeted and timely assessments and to coordinate supporting monitoring programmes based on the specific features of the Baltic Sea. The assessment products should contain information especially about the present state of the marine environment, long-term trends in the pollution load, other human activities and their impacts on the Baltic ecosystems and also recommendations for future actions.

• Implementation of the HELCOM Monitoring and Assessment Strategy
• Implementation of the HELCOM data and information strategy to avoid duplication of data reporting and datasets, and with a view to have a common fully functional marine database to serve regional, European and global level assessments;
• Produce indicator reports and thematic reports on specific topics as well as periodic assessments.
• Share and vizualize data

Contacts

Chair of HELCOM MONAS
Ms. Saara Bäck
Ministry of the Environment
P.O. Box 35
FI-00023 Government, Finland
Phone: +358 204 907 338
Fax: +358 9 1603 935 

HELCOM Secretariat

Professional Secretary
Ms. Maria Laamanen
Phone: +358 46 850 9198
Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645