Publisher :
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2008
Thematic : Marine Resources
Language : English
Note
1. Since signing the Helsinki Convention in 1974, the countries with coasts around the Baltic Sea
have striven jointly within the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) towards the ecological restoration
of the Baltic Sea. The European Community signed the revised Convention in 1992.
2. Work under HELCOM includes implementing joint recommendations to curb pollution
originating from land and marine sources, ensuring safer maritime traffic, and protecting
biodiversity, for example, by setting up a network of Baltic Sea protected areas.
3. A new concept } the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities } was
adopted by the Contracting Parties of HELCOM in 2003 to serve as the new framework for further
efforts towards attaining good ecological status of the Baltic Sea.
4. Stepwise progress towards the development of quantitative definitions of good ecological status
has been made since 2003 to implement the new approach: a common vision reflecting the ecosystem
approach was adopted in 2004 and a number of more targeted goals and objectives were agreed in
2006.
5. The Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention will use the objectives adopted covering
eutrophication, impacts of hazardous substances, and the overall status of biodiversity, including the
impact of fisheries and shipping, to draft a new set of joint management actions.
6. In the future, an agreement under development among the Contracting Parties on indicators
with quantitative targets will enable a quantitative assessment of ‘good ecological status’ and
progress towards the goals of HELCOM, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well
European legislation concerning marine environmental protection.
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Keywords : Rattus mindorensis
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
