HELCOM work towards sustainable agriculture will be presented by Chair as part of the region’s major annual agricultural Conference, held in Warsaw, Poland 23-24 September. Greener Agriculture for a Bluer Baltic Sea has been grown since 2009 into a large event, despite the lack of a stable organizing framework hence mainly by popular demand. The aim is to share visions of the farmers’ and agricultural advisory organisations around the Baltic Sea, joined by authorities, ministries and the private sector alike. The HELCOM presentation in the Conference by the Chair, Harry Liiv, will highlight the need for tailor-made solutions, devised together with competent experts from agricultural field, and since tackling loads from agriculture has been acknowledged for long a challenging task. Implementing innovative techniques and agri-environmental measures are included in the Estonian of the HELCOM Chairmanship. Furthermore, the 2013 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting agreed a few agriculture related measures addressing, among others, effective nutrient management, and recommending to apply nutrient accounting on a farm level by all regional countries. Other key measures include developing standards on nutrients contents; promoting phosphorus recycling; and the modernization of the agriculture related Annex of the cornerstone of HELCOM work – the Helsinki Convention. Moreover, in the conference starting today, the HELCOM presentation will remind the audiences of the announcement last week of the new HELCOM Group on Sustainable Agricultural Practices, a successor of the HELCOM Agriculture and Environment Forum. A key task of the new Agri Group is to review and update Part 2 of the Annex III of the Helsinki Convention as well as support the implementation of the other Ministerial commitments. The Group is to be composed of both agriculture and environmental authorities and will have a technical focus to deliver the outcomes within a five year timeframe. The first meeting of the group will be held on 20-21 November 2014. * * * Note for editors:The 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 contact:Dmitry Frank-KamenetskyProfessional SecretaryHELCOMTel: +358 40 630 9933Skype: helcom68E-mail: dmitry.frank-kamenetsky(at)helcom.fiJohanna LaurilaInformation SecretaryHELCOMTel: +358 40 523 8988Skype: helcom70E-mail: johanna.laurila(at)helcom.fi
Greener Agriculture for a Bluer Baltic Sea Conference, starting today in Warsaw, has been grown since 2009 by popular demand.
