The degradation of the Baltic Sea is progressing

Restoring the good condition of the Baltic marine environment is the main goal included in the revised version of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), which was prepared under the work of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission. From the previous one, which assumed the achievement of the same goal by the end of 2021, only 25 percent of tasks were fully achieved. According to the information from the WWF Polska Foundation, which participated in the revision of the plan as a non-governmental organization, it appears that not all recommendations of the non-governmental party were taken into account. There is a risk of blurring responsibility for the state of the Baltic Sea between countries, and there are no specific recommendations as to how to finance the planned tasks. If the actions are not specific, the condition of the Baltic marine environment will deteriorate, and this will also have economic consequences.

"HELCOM's Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) is a document whose overarching goal is to restore the good condition of the Baltic Sea's marine environment. The first version of the plan was signed in 2007, then the deadline for 2021 was set. We assumed that, as planned, the restoration of the good environmental condition of the Baltic Sea would be a fact just by last year. Unfortunately, this did not happen, so there was a need to revise the plan's assumptions," Sylwia Migdał, a specialist in the protection of marine ecosystems from WWF Poland Foundation, explained.

(Newseria)