Oceanologia (Mar 2001)
The Baltic Sea - an example of how to protect marine coastal ecosystems
Abstract
The Baltic Sea covers an area of 415 000 km2. A typical brackish sea, it is very sensitive to anthropogenic activities. Inorganic nutrients, trace metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons and crude oil products are contaminants studied in the Baltic Monitoring Programme of HELCOM. The data collected by the riparian countries forms the basis for the periodic assessments of the state of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area produced by HELCOM every five years. Since 1992 marine nature conservation has been part of the HELCOM convention. According to the third status report issued in 1996, it was the first time that HELCOM could strike a positive balance with regard to the decreasing environmental load. This is also reflected in lower concentrations of harmful substances in fish, marine mammals and seabirds in the Baltic Sea Area. The reasons for this progress are the protective actions initiated by HELCOM and the economic collapse in some of the former East Bloc countries, the latter resulting in an abrupt fall in industrial and agricultural production. Although the restoration of the Baltic ecosystem has only just begun, the protective measures introduced to achieve this aim can serve as an example of how to solve similar problems in other semi-enclosed basins and shelf seas.
