Sweden
Head of Delegation
Mr. Anders Alm
Ministry of the Environment
SE-103 33 Stockholm
Sweden
Phone: +46 8 405 2389
Fax: +46 8 211 364
Press Contacts
Mr. Tomas Uddin
Ministry of the Environment
SE-103 33 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
Phone: +46 8 405 2269
Ms. Anneli Nivrén
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Blekholmsterassen 36
SE-106 48 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
Phone: +46 8 698 1312; +46 70 206 37 27
The Swedish Baltic
The Swedish Baltic Sea coastline extends all the way from the northernmost part of the Bothnian Bay to the Skagerrak, a distance of more than 1,500 kilometres.
The Swedish coast and particularly the archipelagos and the islands of Gotland and Öland are enormously important for summer recreation and outdoor life.
Coastal sites of cultural heritage have been adversely affected and integrated costal zone management is an important means of resolving conflicts of interest. Just over one thousand professional fishermen were registered in the Baltic Sea coastal districts in 1998. This number continues to decline.
The wind power industry has shown a growing interest in exploiting the two large islands and the offshore banks of the Baltic Proper since the 1990s.
The main threats to the Baltic Sea are eutrophication, persistent organic pollutants, over-fishing, increased maritime traffic and non-indigenous species. Some 200 oil spills per year are recorded in Swedish waters, most of them in the Baltic Sea.
Two out of fifteen national environmental quality objectives are particularly aimed at improving the state of the Baltic Sea including "Zero Eutrophication" and "A Balanced Marine Environment, Flourishing Coastal Areas and Archipelagos".
Other objectives will also be of great importance, however. Interim targets have been set for 2010. For example: "Long-term protection will be provided for at least 50% of marine environments that are worth protecting and at least 70% of coastal and archipelago areas with significant natural and cultural assets" and "waterborne anthropogenic nitrogen emissions in Sweden into the sea south of the Åland Sea will have been reduced by 30% compared with 1995 levels".
Links
Ministry and government authorities/institutions
Ministry of Sustainable Development
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI)
The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA)
Monitoring and research
Environmental Objectives Portal
Eutrophication of soil and water (overview, Swedish EPA)
Heavy Metals (overview, Swedish EPA)
Persistent organic pollutants (overview, Swedish EPA)
Monitoring of seals and white-tailed eagles – as well as herring and bird eggs, (Swedish Museum of Natural History)
Overview of marine biological monitoring programmes of Stockholm University
MARE (Marine Research on Eutrophication), a research programme to develop a scientific base for cost-effective measures for the Baltic Sea (a Mistra programme)
SUCOZOMA (Sustainable coastal zone management) – a research programme aiming to achieve sustainable use of resources, with regard both to the interests of coastal populations and the boundaries of the ecosystem (a Mistra programme)
The Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, (Mistra)
Stockholm Marine Research Centre (SMF)
Göteborg University Marine Research Centre (GMF)
International projects