Baltic Danube Strategy Workshop, Budapest, Hungary, 5 April 2011

1. HELCOM and the EU Strategy
for the Baltic Sea Region
Ms. Gabriella Lindholm,
HELCOM Chairlady
Workshop on Baltic Region experience
for the Danube Strategy
5 April 2011, Budapest, Hungary

2. Contents
• What is going wrong with the Baltic?
• HELCOM and its role
• Major environmental challenges
• New regional environmental strategy
• From programmes to actions

3. What’s in the Baltic Sea for us?
• Area: 415,000 km2
• 9 Coastal States
• Catchment area:
– 4 times sea itself
– 14 countries
– 85 million people
• Natural specifics:
– low temperature
– low water
exchange rate
– brackish water
– sensitive to
human pressures
Baltic Sea value:
>5 Billion
Euro/year ?
Source: What’s in the Sea for me? Swedish EPA, 2009

4. The poor state of the
Baltic Sea
• Eutrophication:
– decreases water quality, enhances toxic
blooms, changes underwater habitats, and
has impacts on fisheries
• High levels of toxins:
– Toxins accumulate in food web resulting in
marine mammals and fish suffer from
reproductive and immunological disorders.
Some Baltic fish are unsafe for human
consumption
• Intentional and accidental oil
spills:
– polluting beaches, killing marine birds and
mammals

5. HELCOM Helsinki Commission
• Governing body of
the Convention on
the Protection of the
Marine Environment
of the Baltic Sea
Area (signed in
1974, updated in
1992)
• Major body of the
international
environmental co-
operation in the
Baltic region
• For the past 30 years
has served as the
main environmental
policy-maker for the
Baltic Sea area,
developing common
objectives and
actions

6. Main priority areas in HELCOM work
• Combating eutrophication caused by excessive
nutrient loads
• Preventing pollution by hazardous substances
• Improving navigational safety and accident
response capacity
• Protecting and conserving marine and coastal
biodiversity

7. HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan
Natural levels Viable Natural marine
Nutrients on populations and coastal
of oxygen and
natural levels of species landscapes
algal blooms
Natural Thriving and
distribution of balanced
fauna and flora communities
EUTROPHICATION BIODIVERSITY
MARITIME HAZARDOUS
TRAFFIC SUBSTANCES
Hazardous
No alien
substances on
species
natural levels
Minimum No illegal or
Healthy All fish
sewage and air accidental
wildlife healthy to eat
pollution discharges

8. Eutrophication Segment
- To reduce nutrient inputs to the sea to
acceptable levels (BSR Strategy)
• Waste water treatment
– advanced P-removal from sewage
– sewage from single houses and settlements
– sewage discharge from ships
– phosphorus-free detergents
• Agriculture
– proper handling of manure and application of
fertilizers
– use of wetlands to trap nutrients
• Airborne deposition
– control of nitrogen emissions from shipping

9. EU BSR Strategy: Eutrophication
• Strategic actions:
– Implement actions to reduce nutrients
– Promote measures and practices which reduce nutrient
losses from farming and address eutrophication
• Cooperative actions:
– Establish and restore more wetlands
– Set up the BONUS 169 scheme
– Facilitate cross-sectoral policy-oriented dialogue
• Flagship projects
– Remove phosphates in detergents in countries where
this is not yet the case as recommended by HELCOM
BSAP
– Cleaner waste water
– Putting best practices in agriculture into work
– Full implementation of the Water Framework Directive
in order to maximize the environmental benefits for
the Baltic Sea
– Cooperate with Russia and Belarus on a comprehensive
regional pollution risk assessment

10. Biodiversity Segment
- To preserve natural zones and biodiversity
including fisheries (BSR Strategy)
• Maintaining a well-functioning and coherent
network of Marine Protected Areas
• Introduction of cross-sectoral marine spatial
planning
• Nature conservation measures
– Update of HELCOM Red Lists of habitats
• Measures to reduce fisheries impacts on
ecosystem
– long-term management plans for commercial fish
stocks
– prevention of by-catch of mammals and birds
– elimination of IUU
– sustainable management of coastal fish

11. Hazardous Substances Segment
- To reduce the use and impact of
hazardous substances (BSR Strategy)
• Application of innovative methodologies for
better knowledge on sources, pathways and
effects
– COHIBA Project (including Whole Effluent Assessment)
– Biological effects monitoring (BEAST Project)
• Introduction of restrictions for the selected
substances
– bans and substitutions for relevant uses (REACH)
– application of BAT and BEP in relevant industries
• Development of chemical product registers
• Awareness raising and capacity building
• Influence work in other regional, European and
global forums

12. Maritime Segment
- To become a model region for clean
shipping (BSR Strategy)
• Baltic contribution to international fora
– Maritime safety
– Air emissions (SOx and NOx Control Area)
– Ballast water management
– Antifouling systems
• Improvement of response capacities
– Assessment of risks (BRISK Project)
– Mitigation measures (response capacities,
places of refuge, etc.)
Stakeholder dialogue with shipping sector is
important

13. Coherent implementation
Source: What’s in the Sea for me? Swedish EPA, 2009
• HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, 20 May 2010, Moscow
– Reports on status of the Baltic Sea
– Reports on national implementation programmes
– Reports on overall status of the BSAP implementation
• HELCOM high-level segment, 9 March 2011, Helsinki
• HELCOM Ministerial Meeting 2013

14. Conclusions
Recipe for success
• Strong commitment to implementation of the
agreed actions
• Use of common Baltic knowledge and priorities
– In EU and global policy making and
implementation
– To align priority setting for use of financial
instruments
• Additional momentum with the EU Baltic Sea
Region Strategy is adopted

15. Thank you!
For more information please contact:
Helsinki Commission
(HELCOM)
Katajanokanlaituri 6 B
FI-00160 Helsinki
Finland
www.helcom.fi