HELCOM launches group to steer Baltic recovery

Helsinki, 4 April (HELCOM Information Service) - Representatives of the HELCOM Member States, science community and International Financial Institutions will convene in Helsinki on 7 April for a two-day inaugural session of the Commission’s newly established group which will steer the implementation of the strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the good ecological status of the sea by 2021.

“The task of this ad hoc Group is to supervise and lead the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan, advise the Helsinki Commission on any additional actions, as well as consider financial issues, including the financing possibilities of the agreed measures, the cost efficiency and economic incentives,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary.

The first meeting of the Baltic Sea Action Plan Implementation Group will focus on practical issues related to the upcoming implementation of the plan, which was adopted by HELCOM in November 2007. Representatives of the HELCOM Member States will present an overview of their national implementation process, including foreseen potential difficulties. The will also discuss measures that need immediate action to meet some of the plan’s deadlines in 2009 and 2010.

One of the topmost issues on the agenda is the elaboration of a comprehensive list of municipal waste water treatment plants. This is considered as one of the priority projects for the successful implementation of the action plan. Municipal waste water treatment plants (MWWTPs) contribute to one third of the total nutrient load to the Baltic Sea, being one of the major causes of eutrophication. Therefore, mitigation of their excessive nutrient loads is recognised as one of the priority actions due to its cost efficiency and easiness to monitor the progress. Members of the Implementation Group will discuss a step-wise approach in order to elaborate a comprehensive list of MWWTPs, in which municipal wastewater treatment plants discharging directly to the Baltic Sea, and not yet fulfilling relevant HELCOM requirements are addressed as the first step in project prioritisation.

Another key issue at the Meeting will be discussions on how to proceed with the elaboration of a list of the agricultural pollution hot spots not fulfilling the HELCOM requirements. Agriculture remains a major source of nutrient inputs to the Baltic Sea and is mainly considered a diffuse source of pollution as the nutrients affecting the Baltic Sea enter indirectly via runoff in the watershed area. The impacts of agriculture can be reduced by means of broad application of Good Agricultural Practices at farmlands within the catchment of the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, intensified development of industrial production of cattle, pigs and poultry within the Baltic Sea area has led to the creation of a new segment of pollution point sources, contributing significantly to the amount of nutrient loads.  Therefore these can be addressed in the same manner as industrial point sources, e.g. through establishment of the list of priority hot spots to be remediated first.

The Meeting will also look into the effects and cost-effectiveness of rapid implementation of the requirements for municipal wastewater treatment plants discharging directly to the Baltic Sea, as well as for agricultural pollution hot spots. Scenario-based studies on these issues will be presented by the Baltic Nest Institute (BNI).

Among other topics, the Implementation Group will discuss the possibility of arranging regional/national workshops, in cooperation with International Financial Institutions such as NIB, NEFCO and EBRD in support of the development of national action programmes. The regional/national national workshops could be used for the purpose of enhancing elaboration of national projects and development of prioritised lists of actions, acquiring financing for speeding-up the implementation of the plan, as well as for increasing awareness of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and its implementation. A first workshop on the implementation of the plan for local stakeholders to be organized in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers in Kaliningrad, Russia, on 22 May 2008, in conjunction with the HELCOM LAND Meeting, will be used to test this approach.

The Meeting will be held at the HELCOM headquarters in Helsinki. It will be conducted by the Chairman of the Baltic Sea Action Plan Implementation Group, Finnish Ambassador for the Baltic Sea, Mr. Ole Norrback.

Note to Editors: 

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, more usually known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," 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