Oceana has criticised Denmark for “blocking” a recommendation to protect threatened Baltic Sea species at a HELCOM Heads of Delegation meeting this week.
Oceana says it’s “deeply disappointed” that the Baltic Sea states failed to agree on a key recommendation. The recommendation is supported by all other HELCOM Contracting Parties, but Denmark refused to set deadlines on actions to protect species included on the HELCOM Red List.
“Denmark’s refusal to endorse these fundamental measures is shameful, particularly when they claim to be the forerunner of environmental protection in the Baltic. Contracting Parties made an enormous effort to compile the HELCOM Red List, and committed to develop conservation plans for species that they identified as being at risk of extinction,” said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director, Oceana Europe.
“By stalling and attempting to water down these plans, Denmark is making a mockery of the entire process,” he added.
The HELCOM Red List, which was finalised in 2013, was the culmination of four years of work and involved contributions from roughly 80 experts around the Baltic Sea. At the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in 2013, Contracting Parties agreed to develop a new recommendation on conservation plans for threatened species by 2015, following the completion of the Red List.
These regional plans and actions – such as using national legislation to protect species, identifying and protecting important habitats, and identifying specific actions to reduce threats – are crucial for restoring threatened species like the Baltic harbour porpoise, the porbeagle shark, and the small, habitat-forming crustacean Haploops tenuis, says Oceana.
In addition, Oceana says the failure to approve these plans also puts at risk the regional-scale implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which has been criticised as being particularly weak in the Baltic Sea.
Further discussion on the recommendation will now be delayed until a HELCOM meeting in November
