Development of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and recovery of major pollution Hot Spots in the region to top the agenda of the HELCOM Meeting in Vilnius

Helsinki, 15 June (HELCOM) – The Helsinki Commission will convene its 19^th Meeting of the Heads of Delegation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the EU on 21-22 June in Vilnius, Lithuania, to discuss intersessional work, working programmes and ongoing projects. The Meeting will be opened by the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Arūnas Kundrotas.

The Meeting is expected to focus on further activities needed to develop the strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan, which is being drafted by HELCOM to restore the troubled Baltic marine environment. Representatives of the coastal countries will particularly discuss the work done so far by the ad hoc Task Force for the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, identify Lead Countries to develop specific parts of the first draft of the plan by 1 September 2006, as well as initiate cost-benefit/effectiveness analysis of the implementation of the action plan in co-operation with the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO).

HELCOM has already approved the core elements of this ambitious action plan - a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea and a set of strategic goals and ecological objectives for achieving a commonly acceptable good status of the marine environment. The next crucial step in the development of the plan, which is expected to be adopted at a HELCOM Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place on 15 November 2007 in Warsaw, Poland, will be to identify and detail the kind of actions needed to achieve the agreed environmental objectives within a given timeframe for each of the four main environmental priority issues: curbing eutrophication, preventing pollution involving hazardous substances, improving safety of navigation and accident response capacity, and halting habitat destruction and the decline in biodiversity.

The recovery of major pollution Hot Spots in the Baltic Sea coastal countries will be one of the key issues on the Agenda. The Meeting is expected to make a final decision on the deletion of several Hot Spots from the list of the Baltic Sea most significant pollution sources, based on the recommendation submitted by the HELCOM Land-based Pollution Group (HELCOM LAND). Among these Hot Spots are several industrial plants and municipalities in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, which have made vast improvements in updating of their processes and/or pollution abatement technologies.

The “Hot Spots” list of the most significant point sources of pollution around the Baltic Sea was first drawn up under the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP) in 1992. A total of 86 Hot Spots and sub-Hot Spots remain on the list today, following the deletion of 63 of the original 149 Hot Spots/sub-Hot Spots. Investment and remediation projects carried out at pollution Hot Spots around the Baltic Sea have contributed substantially towards overall pollution load reductions in the Baltic Sea catchment area.

The Meeting of the Heads of Delegation is expected to endorse a new HELCOM Recommendation on conservation of seals in the Baltic Sea area. This Recommendation prepared by the HELCOM Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Group (HELCOM HABITAT) incorporates a modern concept in the protection of seals in the Baltic Sea. It emphasises clearly defined management objectives and reference points linking the seal populations to the Baltic Sea ecosystem. The Meeting will also consider establishing an interim HELCOM Seal Expert Group to monitor the status of the seal populations and to elaborate the management plans further.

The Meeting will also consider establishing a HELCOM project to assess the state of biodiversity and nature protection in the Baltic Sea area (HELCOM BIO), and approve the publication of the HELCOM Red List of Threatened and Declining Species of Lampreys and Fish of the Baltic Sea. Representatives of the Baltic Sea States will discuss ongoing projects, including the GEF/World Bank funded Baltic Sea Regional Project, as well as the activities of HELCOM subsidiary Groups.

The proceedings will be conducted by the Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Mr. Arturas Daubaras. This Meeting will conclude Lithuania’s chairmanship of HELCOM. The chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission rotates between the Baltic Sea coastal countries and the EU every two years. On 1 July 2006, Poland will officially take over the chairmanship of the Helsinki Commission.  Mr. Mieczyslaw Ostojski from the Ministry of the Environment of Poland will lead, as Chairman, the work of HELCOM during a two-year term, until 30 June 2008. 

For more information, please contact:

HELCOM Secretariat 

Mr Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635
Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi