St. Petersburg to host IX International Baltic Sea Day

Helsinki, 10 March (HELCOM Information Service) – Up to 500 participants from the Baltic Sea countries, including government officials, scientists and business leaders, as well as representatives of major regional organizations and NGO’s are expected to take part in the IX International Environmental Forum “The Baltic Sea Day”, which will be held on 12-13 March in St. Petersburg. Established to support and promote the work of HELCOM, the Baltic Sea Day is considered as an important regional forum to stimulate public awareness of the state of the Baltic marine environment, to enhance political attention to existing problems, and to boost support towards actions needed to protect the sea.

One of the major themes of this year’s Forum will be the implementation of an ambitious HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the good ecological status of the Baltic marine environment by 2021, which was adopted last year at a HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Krakow, Poland. 

“We wish for a productive and successful outcome of this Conference which has become a tradition in our HELCOM family,” said Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “We are confident that our discussions on issues such as agricultural activities, assessment of the state of the Baltic Sea, stakeholder involvement, and financing will be a substantial contribution to the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and one of the first steps towards its implementation. Recognizing that it is not possible to do everything at once, we will be very attentive to suggestions on building a list of prioritised actions, based on the principle of cost-effectiveness.”

“The Conference is also a very important opportunity to interact with our Russian colleagues and discuss issues of joint interest, as on 1 July 2008 Russia will assume the chairmanship of HELCOM for a two-year term,” said Brusendorff.  “This is a crucial period for HELCOM, coinciding with the beginning of what will be a long and challenging road of the Baltic Sea Action Plan implementation.”

The programme of the Baltic Sea Day includes plenary and sectional sessions (round tables) on a wide range of topics. Participants will look into such issues as the stakeholder involvement in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, financing of environmental projects, sustainable agriculture in the Baltic Sea region, assessment of the state of the Baltic marine environment, trilateral co-operation in the Gulf of Finland, tourism and the environment, as well as maritime transportation.

Keynote speakers at the official opening and plenary session will include senior officials of the Government of St. Petersburg, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, HELCOM’s Chairman, Ministers of the Environment from several Baltic Sea countries, as well as representatives of the Nordic Council, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, and the Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation.

The Baltic Sea Day, which has been observed annually in St. Petersburg since 2000, was established on the basis of a decision made by HELCOM. It is held on the anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Convention for the protection of the Baltic marine environment, and is organised by the St. Petersburg NGO Ecology and Business with active support from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and the local governments of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, as well as the governments and financial institutions of the Baltic Sea countries.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (more widely known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM) works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the countries bordering the sea - Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi