HELCOM to present its achievements at the Aichi-Nagoya Summit on Biodiversity

Helsinki, 19 October (HELCOM Information Service) – The Helsinki Commission will showcase its achievements in protecting Baltic biodiversity at the Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which takes place from 18 to 29 October in Nagoya, Japan. Over 15,000 participants representing the 193 Parties and their partners, the highest number ever recorded for such a meeting, will meet to finalize the negotiation on a new Strategic Plan on biodiversity for the period 2011-2020 with a biodiversity vision for 2050.

The HELCOM Secretariat will present various HELCOM activities and projects at the COP 10 Interactive Fair for Biodiversity, as well as at the fair on experiences and best practices in Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA Fair). 

“Particularly, HELCOM will showcase the recently achieved increase in the total extent of marine protected areas and the work to complete an ecologically coherent network of well managed marine protected areas,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “Over 10% of the Baltic marine area is currently protected within Baltic Sea Protected Areas (BSPAs). This means that the goal set by the Convention on Biological Diversity of protecting 10% of every ecoregion by 2010 has been reached for the Baltic Sea.”

Additionally, the Secretariat of the Helsinki Commission will present the recently released Initial Holistic Assessment of the Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea which indicates that the declining condition of biodiversity is weakening the capacity of the ecosystem to provide valuable goods and services. Today, the objectives of HELCOM are defined based on the ecosystem approach. The ecosystem approach lies at the foundation of the strategic HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to radically reduce pollution to the Baltic marine environment and restore its good ecological status by 2021. One of the four segments of this strategic programme contains specific measures to halt habitat destruction and the decline in biodiversity. As part of the Baltic Sea Action Plan, HELCOM has set an objective of achieving a healthy Baltic Sea with a favorable conservation status of biodiversity. The Baltic Sea costal countries will jointly restore and take actions to maintain natural marine and coastal landscapes, thriving and balanced communities of animals and plants, and viable populations of species.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 8509196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi