HELCOM enhances coordinated environmental monitoring

First international network planned for monitoring offshore water birds in the Baltic

07 May 2014

The lack of a joint network to monitor and share data on Baltic offshore water birds will be among the issues addressed in the HELCOM BALSAM Project meetings in Tallinn, Estonia, this week. HELCOM has for long had a high focus on coordinated international environmental monitoring for the Baltic. The EU co-funded BALSAM aims to enhance the coordination, as well as fill gaps in the regional monitoring work by strengthening the capacity of the Baltic Sea coastal countries in their monitoring of water birds, benthic habitats, seals and non-indigenous species in ports.

“Coordinated monitoring of the offshore water bird has not been carried out in the Baltic before and the aim is now to build a platform to start international collaboration to monitor and share data on the birds. Coordinated efforts in monitoring would help protect endangered seabirds in the Baltic, such as Steller’s eider and long-tailed duck”, says Ainars Aunins from the Latvian Fund for Nature, coordinator of the seabird platform.

The BALSAM Project also contributes to the revision of the HELCOM joint monitoring programme and the development of the online joint HELCOM Monitoring Manual. The Manual will assist the EU member states in their reporting for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and is expected to be available online in the autumn of 2014. In the BALSAM Meetings this week, the main focus will be on contributing to the Manual, discussing the establishment of a platform for water bird monitoring as well as drafting a manual on benthic habitat monitoring for the Baltic.

“Currently no regular monitoring exists for Baltic Sea benthic habitats, although habitat mapping has started in many countries. Our goal is to prepare a manual with recommendations on how to monitor the habitats in the future” says Georg Martin from the Estonian Marine Institute.

BALSAM ensures harmonized approaches also in an interregional level, by cooperating with two other pilot projects in the North Sea (JMP NS/CS) and in the Mediterranean (IRIS-SES). Further, BALSAM will provide recommendations to enhance coordinated use of research vessels in the Baltic Sea. The project started on 1 October 2013 and will run until the end of March 2015.

BALSAM meeting site (all documents public after the meeting)

MARMONI Seminar, 7-8 May 2014, Tallinn, Estonia