Partners in Action

A highlight of the elaboration of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan has been the active participation of all major stakeholder groups in the region. Such participation ensures that the plan is truly relevant and can be effectively implemented in practice. The choices that we make reflect the choices of society as a whole. For this reason, the common vision of the healthy Baltic Sea has been defined together with all participating stakeholders – from governments, through industry and NGOs, right down to individual citizens, including older and younger generations, and organisations in both the private and the public sectors.

Today, many stakeholders are engaged in implementation of the Action Plan, and the approaches and principles of the BSAP have for instance been utilized when developing the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

To help to implement the BSAP, a special fund has been set up. The BSAP Fund is managed by the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The fund provides grants for technical assistance to projects that support the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. The aim of the BSAP is to help restore the ecological status of the Baltic Sea. The fund today disposes approximately 11 million Euro, originating from donations from the Governments of Sweden and Finland.

The BSAP Fund has supported projects related to wastewater treatment, nutrient recycling and manure management, including biogas production, and reduction of the environmental impact of shipping.