Lead Organization: Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), Finland
Duration: 2016-2017
ICES contact: Neil Holdsworth, Head of Data and Information
Project objectives:
The project will contribute to the development of the Second Holistic Assessment of Ecosystem Health in the Baltic Sea (HOLAS II, 2014-2018) aimed at giving an update of the overall environmental status of and pressures on the Baltic Sea and evaluating progress in relation to the goals of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. The assessment will be developed so that it can be used in the 2018 reporting for the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by those contracting parties of the Helsinki Convention that are also EU Member States.
The project will develop four themes required for the successful implementation of the HOLAS II project:
- Baltic Sea pressure and impact indices (BSPI/BSII)
- Spatial information on ecosystem components
- Framework for economic and social analyses (ESA) in the Baltic Sea region
- Workspaces for data and information access
ICES role:
ICES supports HELCOM on the implementation of Theme 4.
This project has received funding from the European Commission's LIFE programme.