Marine Protected Areas and the success of regional seas conventions – delivering global commitments in the Baltic Sea Region

#UNOceanConference #UNOC2022

Date and time: 30 June 2022 11.30 – 12.45 GMT+1

Location: Side event room 2, Altice Arena

Why this topic?

The Baltic Sea region has not only achieved but actually surpassed the 10 % target of MPA coverage. Now the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) is becoming a frontrunner in using Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), which promote biodiversity conservation outside of protected areas.

The side event highlights Marine Protected Areas (MPA) as a concrete example of the instrumental role of the regional seas conventions in implementing SDG14 in particular and other global commitments in general, at the macro-regional and sea-basin levels.

The Set-Up

Moderator: Lilian Busse, HELCOM Chair

I Opening remarks

High level representatives of Germany, Finland and Estonia:

• Ms Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Germany
• Ms Terhi Lehtonen, Secretary of State/Vice-Minister of the Ministry of the Environment, Finland
• Mr. Antti Tooming, Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of the Environment, Estonia

II Key-note speakers: where are we now?

• Rüdiger Strempel, Executive Secretary of HELCOM
• Imèn Meliane, Vice President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (WCPA); Marine OECM Lead with the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
• Mikhail Durkin, Executive Secretary of CCB

III Panel: Critical view: where should we go?

• Mikhail Durkin, Executive Secretary of CCB
• Jannica Haldin, Deputy Executive Secretary of HELCOM
• Imèn Meliane, Vice President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (WCPA); Marine OECM Lead with the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
• Dominic Pattinson, Executive Secretary of OSPAR
• Sebastian Unger, Research Group Leader, Ocean Governance, IASS Potsdam

IV Concluding Remarks

Moderator: Lilian Busse, HELCOM Chair

Introducing the speakers and panelists

Short bios of the speakers and panelists here.

Background notes

The connection between SDG 14 and the MPAs and OECMs is clear. They are directly addressed in targets 14.2 and 14.5, but they also a prerequisite for attaining a few others, such as those on fisheries and fish stocks.

The side event will present HELCOM’s Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) 2021–2030 as a best practice example for an ecosystem-based approach to marine management from science to action. The BSAP provides concrete tools for reaching the regional commitments, such as the the establishment of a coherent MPA network, and the “30/10 target” referring to the expansion aim of the MPA coverage to 30 % of the Baltic Sea, with one third being strictly protected. The latter has a straight link to processes under Convention on Biological Diversity as well as the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

In addition, experiences from updating the BSAP, which contains several specific actions related to spatial conservation measures, will be shared in the event.

Co-organizers of the event

• Ministry of the Environment of Estonia
• Ministry of the Environment of Finland
• Ministry of the Environment of Germany
• Ministry of the Environment of Latvia
• Ministry of the Environment of Sweden
• Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
• World Commission on Protected Area (WCPA)
• Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB)
• Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR)
• Commission for the Protection of the Baltic Sea Marine Environment (HELCOM).