Poland
Head of Delegation
Mr. Andrzej Jagusiewicz
Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection
ul. Wawelska 52/54
PL-00 922 Warsaw
Poland
Phone: +48 22 8253325
Fax: +48 22 8250465
Joint Comprehensive Baltic Sea Environmental Action Programme |
Poland and the Baltic
Located in the centre of Europe and south off the Baltic Sea, Poland is one of the most populous and largest country in the Baltic Sea region, and particularly in its drainage basin. Half of the inhabitants in the Baltic Sea Region live in Poland.
The 528 km shoreline of the Baltic forms about 15% of the country's border. The coastal zone is inhabited by about 10% of the country’s population and is home to a variety of economic activities linked to shipbuilding, fisheries and marine transport, chemical industry and tourism.
Almost all of the surface water flowing across Poland drains into the Baltic Sea. The size of this riverine outflow causes that Poland is the largest contributor to the pollution of the Baltic Sea. However, when expressed per inhabitant or area unit, Poland's contribution of nutrients to the Baltic Sea is one of the smallest ones.
The Ministry of the Environment is the main governmental authority responsible for environmental management. Environmental issues referring to the marine transport and related activities belong to the scope of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Agencies outside the regular structure of the Ministry of the Environment, listed below, also play an important role in environmental policy.
The Inspectorate for Environmental Protection is the main body responsible for the enforcement of environmental regulations, and in co-operation with the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management conducts measurements and prepares information on water quantity and quality.
Poland has been remarkably successful in mobilising financial resources for environmental investments which are largely financed from domestic sources.
The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management with money deriving from fees for the use of the environment and natural resources, as well as fines for non-compliance with the legal requirements in environmental protection, provides financial assistance in the form of soft loans and grants for environmental projects. The Fund supports Polish participation in HELCOM COMBINE programme as well as many investments in the JCP hot spots – hot spots elimination is among the Fund's priorities. An innovative development is the first debt-for-environment swap involving public debt. The funds from debt-for-environment swaps have been put in the Ecofund, a special body created in 1992.
Poland attaches great importance to international environmental matters, both to protect its own environment and to build a positive image internationally. It participates in many regional and global negotiations and has made many international commitments.
National policy in relation to the prevention of marine pollution, and in particular that of the Baltic Sea, takes account of the international dimension of the tasks involved. Special mention should be made of the efforts towards harmonisation of Polish environmental law with EC environmental law and with many legal commitments arising from UN-ECE conventions, the 1992 Helsinki Convention and Rio Declaration.
Links
Index of the Polish legal acts on the environment
Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, Gdynia Maritime Branch is engaged in atmospheric and sea research, conducting meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic services for maritime economy.
Maritime Office in Gdynia, Maritime Office in Slupsk and Maritime Office in Szczecin are local bodies of the maritime administration exercising the wide range of competence with regard to the area of internal sea waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, sea ports and terrestrial technical belt.
Maritime Institute in Gdansk is a research institute under the Ministry of Infrastructure, undertaking the technological, economical, ecological, organisational and legal issues related to the maritime economy.
Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia is a research institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, specialising in fishery sciences and marine ecology.
Institute of Environmental Protection provides scientific and advisory services in the field of environmental protection; its Gdansk Branch takes part in the Baltic Monitoring Programme.
Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot
Hel Marine Station, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk has the only seal breeding centre in Poland.
Wolin National Park located at the western Baltic coast is the first maritime park in Poland, established as a HELCOM Baltic Sea Protected Area.
Slowinski National Park located on the central coast is recognised by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.
Projects
BEIDS
Baltic Environmental Information Dissemination System (BEIDS), BSR Interreg IIC project aiming at establishment of the system for the dissemination of information related to the energy sector, transport sector and sustainable development. The Technical University of Gdansk in Poland is one of the six project partners.
Restoring biological diversity
The restitution of anadromous migratory fish: seeking a comprehensive solution based on a restitution program in Polish rivers. A project proposal to be submitted to the European Commission; project originators are looking for partners.
Contact
Mr Zygmunt Okoniewski,
Inland Fisheries Institute in Piaseczno
GEF project on persistent organic pollutants
A GEF project on persistent organic pollutants in Poland, within the framework of the Stockholm Convention (GEF No GF/POL/01/004).
Stage I – stocktaking of POP's, i.e. production, use, export, import, and emissions and discharges into environmental compartments.
Stage II – preparation of the national program for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention, and action plans for the specific areas in Poland.
Contact
Institute of Environmental Protection in Warsaw
Ms Elzbieta Niemirycz
Pomorskie Laboratory for Toxic Substances in Gdansk
SIGNAL
Significance of anthropogenic nitrogen for the central Baltic Sea N-cycling, supported by the EC under the Fifth Framework Programme.
Years of realisation: 2001-2003
Contact
Ms Marianna Pastuszak
Sea Fisheries Institute
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology
CHARM
Characterisation of the Baltic Sea ecosystem: dynamics and function of coastal types, supported by the EC under the Fifth Framework Programme, involves all riparian countries, except Russia.
Years of realisation: 2002-2004
Contact
Mr Jan Warzocha
Sea Fisheries Institute
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology
SIBER
Silicate and Baltic Sea Ecosystem Response, (web side to be developed) supported by the EC under the Fifth Framework Programme. Project partners are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden.
Contact
Ms Marianna Pastuszak
Sea Fisheries Institute
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology
COST-IMPACT
Costing the impact of demersal fishing on marine ecosystem processes and biodiversity COST-IMPACT, accepted by the EC under the Fifth Framework Programme. Project partners are Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Norway and Poland. Years of realisation: 2001-2004
Contact
Mr Aleksander Drgas
Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia
Kollataja 1 Str., PL-81 332 Gdynia
Phone: +48 58 623 27 26
MANTRA-East
Integrated Strategies for the Management of Transboundary Waters on the Eastern European fringe – The pilot study of Lake Peipsi and its drainage basin (MANTRA-East), accepted by the EC under the Fifth Framework Programme. Project partners are Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.
Years of realisation: 2002-2004
Contact
Mr Piotr Margonski
Sea Fisheries Institute
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology
Restoring lake trout in the drainage basin of Wdzydze Lake
Action
There have been significant declines in endemic populations of the lake trout Salmo trutta m. lacustris in various drainage basins in Poland due to worsening environmental conditions, including the damming and canalisation of rivers. Since the early 1990s the Polish Inland Fisheries Institute have been attempting to restore lake trout populations in the drainage basin of Wdzydze Lake, with co-operation from a local fishing firm.
Background
- monitoring of lake trout populations and environmental conditions.
- controlled breeding of young salmon for restocking, in co-operation with a local fish farm.
- biological studies of this endemic variety of sea trout.
- restoration of spawning rivers to their natural state.
Aim
- to increase the trout population to ensure its survival.
Organisations involved
Polish Inland Fisheries Institute; Wdzydze Fisheries
Contacts