The Danish-led, EU-funded project BALANCE for the protection and sustainable management of the Baltic Sea ecosystem has received the 2009 National ENERGY GLOBE Award for Denmark. As a first step the ENERGY GLOBE Award is made at a national level to the leading environmental or energy project in a particular country. An overall global winner is later selected from all competing projects.
"Besides steering the BALANCE project whilst building up one of the highest product delivery rates ever seen, DHI has also contributed to the drafting and publication of the BALANCE summary reports. We now have a suite of new tools and an extensive background in management and protection of the Baltic marine environment, so BALANCE's purpose can be said to be fully met" says Jesper Andersen, DHI, who acknowledges the Danish Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning (BLST) for a good initiative as well as excellent timing.
DHI has helped the BALANCE project with strategic project management and coordination of a project that is comparable to a super tanker in size and manoeuvrability. All in all, there have been 20 partners in the BALANCE project and six sub-contractors. A further contribution from DHI has been modelling of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea.
As an example of the importance of the project, BALANCE results and follow-up activities on the project have been used in HELCOM’s thematic assessment of biodiversity in the Baltic Sea and in the upcoming HELCOM Initial Holistic Assessment of ecosystem health of the Baltic Sea 2003-2007. Furthermore, key BALANCE results will contribute to the upcoming implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
The 2009 Awards will be presented at an event on June 3rd 2010 in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, in connection with the celebration of the UN Environment Programme UNEP's annual World Environment Day on June 5th.
Facts about BALANCE
BALANCE - Baltic Sea Management - Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Ecosystem through Spatial Planning - was targeted at development of tools for managing the Baltic Sea based on spatial planning and collaboration across sectors and countries.
Researchers and managers from the EU countries bordering the Baltic Sea and from Norway participated in the project, which started in July 2005 and ended in December 2007. Lead Partner was the Danish Forest and Nature Agency (SNS), now the Danish Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning (BLST).
The main objectives of BALANCE have been:
- to identify, coordinate and quality assure appropriate marine data for the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak,
- identifying marine landscapes (broad-scale marine habitats) in the Baltic and develop maps of habitats (in four pilot areas),
- to evaluate the existing network of Marine Protected Areas in the Baltic and develop a concept of "blue corridors", and
- to develop plans for zoning and management of the Baltic Sea, exemplified in two pilot areas.
The results of BALANCE have already been recognized. For example, key results are included in the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.