Press release
HELCOM Task Force begins drafting a proposal for the Baltic Sea Action Plan
Helsinki, 25 April (HELCOM) – The first meeting of the international ad hoc Task Force, which will be drafting a proposal for an action plan to restore the Baltic Sea marine environment, convened today at the HELCOM headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.
During the two-day session the Task Force chaired by Heike Imhoff from Germany and consisting of representatives nominated by the HELCOM Member States, the EU, and major regional stakeholder organisations will advance discussions that will shape the content of the new environmental strategy for the Baltic Sea. Particularly, experts will consider the outline, the structure of the plan and activities needed to develop it.
Key discussions at the Task Force meeting will also focus on the possible programme of actions for each of the four main environmental priority areas: eutrophication, hazardous substances, maritime activities and biodiversity. “The Task Force will look into the suitability of the programme of actions within a concrete timetable, with a view to define additional actions, as well as the suitability of activities and their timing needed to reach these actions, with a view to define additional activities,” said Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM Executive Secretary.
The ad hoc Task Force for the development of the Baltic Sea Action Plan was established at the annual HELCOM meeting in March 2006. This meeting also approved the first core elements of the 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.
Last year, the Helsinki Commission resolved to create a Baltic Sea Action Plan, which would set out a new strategy to reduce pollution and reverse the marine environment degradation. The concept of this ambitious plan of actions, which has already been widely heralded as a pilot project for the European seas under the newly drafted EU Marine Strategy, will provide a unique opportunity to take joint wide-scale and decisive actions to achieve the ultimate target of having a healthy marine environment with balanced eco-systems for the present generation to enjoy.
The consultation process on the development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan was officially launched at the kick-off Stakeholder Conference held on 7th March 2006 in Helsinki, Finland. After a series of meetings and a final Stakeholder Conference in March 2007, which will look into and review a first draft of a single Baltic Sea Action Plan, the finalised environmental strategy will be adopted at a Ministerial HELCOM meeting, which will take place on 15th November 2007 in Warsaw, Poland.
The Task Force will be working on the action plan up until the Warsaw Ministerial. One of the main objectives of the ad hoc Task Force will be also to ensure political commitment to the development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan thereby maintaining a link between scientific work and relevant political processes.
For more information, please contact:
Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel.: + 358 (0)207 412 635
Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639
E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi