HELCOM to review efforts in setting up a comprehensive system to monitor Baltic recovery

Helsinki, 11 April (HELCOM Information Service) - The Helsinki Commission Monitoring and Assessment Group (HELCOM MONAS) will convene a regular meeting on 13-15 April in Ispra, Italy, to present new information on sources and quantities of inputs of harmful substances into the Baltic Sea, as well as their effects on the state of the marine environment.

The topmost issue on the agenda of the Meeting will be the creation of a comprehensive indicator-based follow-up system to monitor the effectiveness of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in improving the state of the Baltic Sea marine environment. The issues at stake are the providing of information on eutrophication status, quantities and impacts of hazardous substances, and on the state of biodiversity and nature protection. The action plan aims at reducing pollution loads into the marine environment and reducing the risks of maritime activity.

“The goal of developing such an indicator-based follow-up system to be placed on the HELCOM web site is to make the Baltic-wide up-to-date information available to the public and decision-makers. The creation of this system was agreed upon during the HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Meeting in May 2010, and it should be made functional by 2013,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “The EU member countries have a particular interest in developing a common indicator-based system for continuous evaluation of the state of the marine environment because a similar obligation stems not only from the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan but also from the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive”, she adds.

HELCOM needs reliable data on inputs of nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus into the Baltic Sea from land-based as well as sea-based sources, as well as information about the significance of different pollution sources. These data are needed to assess whether the Baltic Sea countries are getting closer to their nutrient reduction targets set by the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, and whether the overall maximum allowed level of nutrient inputs is close to being achieved. The Meeting will be able to consider and comment on a near finalized in-depth assessment of the loads of nutrients into the Baltic Sea during 1994-2008 which has been prepared by HELCOM experts and will be released prior to summer 2011. The Meeting will also discuss how to best organize the annual collection of nutrient input data for the follow-up of the progress towards the Baltic Sea Action Plan nutrient reduction targets and how to make this information also available to the wider public.

Joint coordinated monitoring of the state of the marine environment forms the core of the activity of HELCOM and it is also the engine of any indicators and information system on the state of the sea. The Monitoring and Assessment Group will, during its Fourteenth Meeting, continue its activities in harmonizing the monitoring and data reporting means of the HELCOM countries. It will consider a proposal for a new project on quality assurance of zooplankton monitoring. Additionally, the Meeting will consider the formation of a new macrophytobenthos expert group for ensuring the consistency of the reporting of data from the countries on macroalgae and plants. Such expert activities on harmonization of methods and quality assurance of data are at the base of any reliable indicator-based system for monitoring the state of the marine environment.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region.

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

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
HELCOM
Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9196
Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645
E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi