Latest issue of HELCOM News released

Helsinki, 2 November (HELCOM) – The Helsinki Commission has released the latest issue of its Newsletter, HELCOM News (No.1-2/2006), featuring an overview of the ongoing HELCOM work to develop an ambitious action plan to restore the health of the Baltic Sea, and also containing an update on other recent HELCOM activities and current trends in the Baltic marine environment.

This edition covers all major events in the development of the Baltic Sea Action Plan since March 2006, including the kick-off Stakeholder Conference, which discussed the concept of the plan, and the annual Helsinki Commission Meeting, which adopted the first core elements of the new environmental strategy - 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 40-page Newsletter includes articles on the latest assessments of nitrogen emissions, oxygen depletion in the Baltic Proper and the Gulf of Finland, as well as articles discussing nutrient reduction scenarios, and biodiversity objectives for the Baltic Sea Action Plan. This edition also provides latest statistics on shipping accidents and incidents with WWII chemical munitions being caught by fishermen. Several stories re-cap important HELCOM events, which occurred in spring-autumn 2006. Among them - the Polish Chairmanship of HELCOM, which officially began on 1 July 2006, the annual exercise of the HELCOM response fleet off Gdynia, Poland, the removal of several pollution Hot Spots in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, as well as the Third HELCOM Youth Forum in Flensburg, Germany. 

To view the PDF version of HELCOM news issue 1-2/2006, click here.

To order your print copy, please call the HELCOM Secretariat: + 358 (0)207 412 649 or send an e-mail to info@helcom.fi. More details of HELCOM’s activities, publications and projects are available at http://www.helcom.fi.

Contacts

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