26 Aug 2008 - The states
around the Baltic Sea all scored a bottom
grade for their marine environmental performance,
according to a WWF assessment presented
at the annual Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm
today. The nine countries were graded on
how well they are doing
on six separate areas: biodiversity, fisheries,
hazardous substances, maritime transports,
eutrophication, and on how well they have
developed an integrated sea use management.
The best grades were received by Germany,
followed by Denmark, while Estonia ended
up in third place.
Behind the bad over-all
scores, there are, however, lights of hope.
Germany received an A- on the biodiversity
score for their protection of marine areas
with around 40% of the country’s sea areas
protected. Latvia and Lithuania have taken
measures to combat illegal fishing of cod,
partly by giving inspectors the mandate
to impose sanctions on site. Estonia has
a narrow lead in lowering the impact of
hazardous substances.
- It is a shame that
no country could be given a satisfactory
total score, says Mats Abrahamsson, Program
Director of WWF Baltic Sea Ecoregion Program.
The Baltic Sea is influenced by a multitude
of human activities, regulated by a patchwork
of international and national regulations
and authorities. What the Baltic Sea needs
now is political leadership that can look
beyond national or sectoral interests and
take an integrated approach to solving the
problems.
Also at the festival,
WWF awarded Tarja Halonen, president of
the Republic of Finland, with the Baltic
Sea Leadership Award for “her persistent
efforts to unite groups and encourage cross-border
discussions on the future of the Baltic
Sea”.
- We applaud Tarja Halonen
and the leadership she has shown in her
position as President of Finland. She has
used the opportunities presented by her
position to press and encourage increased
political leadership and cross-border cooperation
in order to save the Baltic Sea, says Mats
Abrahamsson.
Finland is the only
country in the region that has developed
a cross-sectoral marine policy. Several
other countries are now taking steps to
review their marine management. Sweden scored
best in the region in the Integrated Sea
Use Management category for its comprehensive
review of its marine management through
its Marine Inquiry.
- What we need now is
a holistic, integrated, cross-sectoral and
ecosystem-based process that includes all
countries, sectors and relevant stakeholders,
says Mats Abrahamsson. We now have a window
of opportunity in the area of sea use management
with two current processes on the European
level: the Maritime Policy and the EU Baltic
Sea Strategy. There is hope for the Baltic
Sea.
The poor state of the
environment of the Baltic Sea has received
attention this summer because of the extensive
algal blooms caused by eutrophication, and
for recent scientific reports on the vast
dead zones on the sea bottom.
Note to editors:
The 2008 Baltic Sea
Scorecard
For the second consecutive year, WWF and
its partner organizations around the Baltic
Sea is presenting a scorecard to assess
how well the nine nations bordering the
Baltic Sea are managing to protect and restore
this fragile ecosystem to health. While
the 2007 Scorecard centered on countries’
efforts to ratify and implement existing
international agreements and conventions
to manage and protect the Baltic Sea, this
year’s Scorecard focuses more keenly on
assessing whether concrete actions, necessary
to achieve good environmental status for
the Baltic Sea, actually have been accomplished.
The Baltic Sea Festival
The intention of the sixth Baltic Sea Festival
is to bring together people of the Baltic
Sea region with an interest in classical
music, environment, and the concept of leadership.
The Festival takes place between the 21st
and 30th of August in Stockholm, Tallinn
and Riga.
