Challenges of the status and use of the Baltic Sea environment.

Dmitry Frank-Kamenetsky HELCOM

• Intergovernmental organisation

• 9 coastal countries & EU • Marine area:

– 415,000 km2

• Catchment area: – 1.72 million km2

(4 x size of the sea area) – 14 countries – 85 million people

Helsinki Commission (HELCOM)

Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission

Estonian Chairmanship of HELCOM July 2014 - June 2016

PRIORITIES OF ESTONIAN HELCOM CHAIRMANSHIP

- Progress towards the targets of HELCOM Nutrient Reduction Scheme - Eliminate countries’ remaining HELCOM Hot-Spots by 2016 at latest. - Start developing quantitative environmental targets in other areas than eutrophication.

REDUCTION OF POLLUTION LOAD

REDUCTION OF IMPACT OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

REGIONAL MARINE LITTER ACTION PLAN

EUTROPHICATION

HAZARDOUS

SUBSTANCES

PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

Use, conservation and protection of the Baltic Sea regional coastal and marine areas

Well-managed and ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas

Fish stock and other environmental resources

ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS AND INFORMATION HELCOM's up to date monitoring programme

Indicator- and environmental objectives’ based assessment

Access to environmental information and visibility of HELCOM activities

BIODIVERSITY

INFORMATION RESOURCES

Above and beneath the Baltic waves: still a lot to do!

Nutirent reduction scheme of the BSAP consists of two parts

MAI Maximum allowable inputs: the basin-wise maximal nitrogen and phosphorus inputs that will result in a development towards reaching the ecological targets

CART Country-wise allocation of reduction targets: the necessary nutrient input reduction distributed per Country according to agreed principles

Baltic Sea Sub-basin Maximum Allowable

Inputs (2013) Reference inputs

1997-2003 Needed

reductions TN

tons TP

tons TN

tons TP

tons TN

tons TP

tons

Kattegat 74 000 1 687 78 761 1 687 4 761 0 Danish Straits 65 998 1 601 65 998 1 601 0 0 Baltic Proper 325 000 7 360 423 921 18 320 98 921 10 960 Bothnian Sea 79 372 2 773 79 372 2 773 0 0 Bothnian Bay 57 622 2 675 57 622 2 675 0 0 Gulf of Riga 88 417 2 020 88 417 2 328 0 308 Gulf of Finland 101 800 3 600 116 252 7 509 14 452 3 909 Baltic Sea – revised figures (2013) 792 209 21 716 910 344 36 894 118 134 15 178

BSAP nutrient reduction targets

• Nutrient reduction targets • Nutrient balanced fertilisation • Red list of species and biotopes • Marine litter, microplastics • Underwater noise • Shoreline response • Impacts of pharmaceuticals • Indicator-based monitoring

Reductions/ country (tonnes/year)

P 530 N 9240 P 320

N 1800

P 1470 N 8970

P 220 N 1670

P 110 + 60 N 7170 + 500

P 38 N 2890

P 330 + 26 N 2430 + 600

Bothnian Bay

Bothnian Sea

Gulf of Finland

Gulf of Riga

Baltic Proper

Danish Straits

Kattegat

P 3790 N 10380

P 7480 N 43610

Country Allocated Reductions Targets, 2013

(tonnes/year)

P 800 N 3320

UNECE N 18720 Shipping N 6930

-18% -16% Reduction of inputs between 1994 and 2010

BUT ONLY 10% comparing 1997-2003 to 2008-2010

Total Flow waterborne and airborne inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen to the Baltic Sea in 2010

Country Flow Phosphorus (t) Nitrogen (t)

m3/s Waterborne Airborne Total Waterborne Airborne Total

Bothnian Bay 3,136 2,748 181 2,929 44,582 7,258 51,840

Bothnian Sea 2,926 2,045 394 2, 439 48,635 21,347 69,982 Gulf of Finland 4,068 6,114 150 6,264 95,536 12,015 107,551

Gulf of Riga 1,372 2,303 93 2,396 66,240 8,691 74,931

Baltic Proper 4,784 14,190 1,046 15,236 271,695 106,589 378,284 Danish Straits 238 1,369 105 1,474 36,955 20,091 57,046

Kattegat 1,173 1,392 118 1,510 46,260 16,564 62,824

Total 17,698 30,161 2,087 32,301 609,903 192,555 802,458

The annual total (air- and waterborne) nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the Gulf of Finland during 1995-2010 (tonnes)

Agricaltural sector contribution to the nutrient load to the Baltic Sea

Agriculture contribution to the diffuse load - 70-90% for nitrogen and 60-80% for phosphorus

Total nitrogen Total phosphorus

Assessment and quantification of Neva river nutrient input in the years 2013-2014

Data for calculation/Period

Ptot, t/a

Ntot t/a

Original data, obtained within BASE Project works/(07.2013-06.2014) 2538 63045 Extended data (concentrations obtained within BASE Project works + state monitoring monthly average flow data) /(07.2013-06.2014)

2448 56670

HELCOM BASE project in cooperation with the North-West Department of Hydrometeorology

and Environmental Monitoring

Assessment of the nutrient load to the Baltic Sea from small settlements of Leningrad region.

The nutrient loads into the Gulf of Finland from scattered settlements of the Leningrad region are 4584,9 t/a for Ntot 836,6 t/a for Ptot.

About 377 thousands people permanently live in the settlements

with population less than 2000 people.

About 2.5 million people temporary se summer cottages in Leningrad region.

HELCOM BASE project in cooperation with “Ecology and business”.

Pharmaceuticals

HELCOM BASE project (2013-2014).

The study has shown that concentration of Diclofenac in the effluent varied from 355 ng/L to 550 ng/L. Taking into account daily sewage water release in St.Petersburg total annual input of pain killer is about 400 kg.

Annual atmospheric deposition fluxes of dioxins over the surface of the Baltic Sea have decreased in period 1990-2011 by 66%

The reduction of atmospheric input of lead, cadmium, and mercury to the Baltic Sea is a result of abatement measures as well as economic restructuring in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia in early 1990

Hazardous substances

Marine litter and microplastic problem

Litter type Influent After

mechanical After

purification Purification

% Textile fibers

467 33 16 96,57

Synthetic particles

160 21 7 95,63

Black particles

3160 302 125 96,04

The Central WWTP of St. Petersburg purifies about 350 million cubic meters of waste water per year so the amount of microplastic ending up in the natural water environment is considerable.

Central WWTPof St. Petersburg

Particles per liter

Sources of ML in the BS • ARCADIS (2013):

– Household activities, including sanitary waste, waste collection and transport (48%)

– Coastal-based tourism and recreation (25%)

– Professional marine activities (e.g. fishing, shipping, port and maritime industries) (12%)

– Recreational boating (6%)

• Ghost nets: 5.500 - 10.000 per year (WWF Poland, 2011)

• Microparticles from land-based sources (e.g. fibres and road traffic) (Noren&Magnusson 2010)

Probable ML sources in the BS (ARCADIS, 2013)

2013 HELCOM Ministerial Declaration DECIDE to develop a regional action plan by 2015 at the latest with the aim of achieving a significant quantitative reduction of marine litter by 2025, compared to 2015

Measures addressing ML

Benefits 3,8-5 billion €/year

Costs 2007

2,3 billion €/year

Benefits of protecting the Baltic exceed the costs by 1,9-3,1 billion €/year

Costs of the revised reduction targets

2013 1,9 billion €/year.

Dmitry Frank-Kamenetsky Professional Secretary Tel: +358 40 6309933; Skype: helcom68 E-mail: Dmitry.Frank-Kamenetsky@helcom.fi