Marine and coastal protected areas in the Baltic Sea () and North-East Atlantic were addressed right at the start of the 4th International on Progress in Marine Conservation in Europe 2015, held on 14-18 September in Stralsund, Germany. The extensive agenda ranges from sustainable fisheries to underwater noise, harbour porpoise and management of protected areas. Photo: Metsähallitus NHS/Pekka LehtonenOn Thursday 17 September, the outcome of the HELCOM Red Lists of and will be presented together with future plans for conservation measures. The latest HELCOM Red List assessments, published in 2013, showed that nearly 70 species are at risk of extinction and close to 20 biotopes at risk of collapse in the HELCOM area. To mitigate the alarming situation, HELCOM is currently developing a Recommendations for conservation of species and biotopes. The presentation will be given jointly by the HELCOM Secretariat and German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, representing one of the Contracting Parties in HELCOM. The organizer of the conference, German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz – ) is the German government’s scientific authority responsible for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government’s departmental research agencies. The Agency provides the German Environment Ministry with professional and scientific assistance in all nature conservation and landscape management issues and in international cooperation activities. BfN furthers its objectives by carrying out related scientific research and is also in charge of a number of funding programmes. * * *Note for editorsThe Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as , is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the ‘Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area’, more commonly known as the Helsinki Convention. * * *For more information, please contactUlla Li ZweifelProfessional SecretaryHELCOMTel. +358 46 850 9198Skype: helcom64E-mail: ullali.zweifel(at)helcom.fi Johanna LaurilaInformation SecretaryHELCOMTel: +358 40 523 8988Skype: helcom70E-mail: johanna.laurila(at)helcom.fi
International Conference on Progress in Marine Conservation in Europe 2015 takes place all this week in Stralsund, Germany.
