Global Environment Facility - Baltic Sea Regional Project

(GEF)

Recipient Countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast -Russia Federation

Background. 

The proposed Baltic Sea Regional Project will support implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Program for the Baltic Sea (JCP), which was prepared under the coordination of the Helsinki Commission by a high-level task force comprised of representatives of cooperating countries, international financial organizations and non-government organizations. The JCP, as adopted in 1992, and strengthened and updated in 1998, constitutes the "Strategic Action Plan" for the Baltic Sea region. The proposed Project will introduce ecosystem-based assessment and management of the environment and resources of the Baltic Sea. It will serve as a mechanism for managing the common resources of the Baltic Sea ecosystem through strengthened cooperation between three international bodies  HELCOM, IBSFC, and ICES and the recipient countries. The Project will provide linkages with ongoing programs in the region and implement priority actions that address transboundary environmental issues, to achieve sustainable production of biological resources, conservation of living marine resources, and control of non-point source pollution from agriculture and other contaminants threatening the health of the ecosystem.

 Recipient Countries and Cooperating Parties.

The recipient countries include the eastern littoral countries of the Baltic Sea drainage basin Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Federation. The cooperating parties include three specialized institutions: HELCOM, IBSFC and ICES, complemented by the European Union (EU), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, United States, NEFCO, World Bank, and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Preparation of the Project has been coordinated with two GEF supported activities, the Rural Environmental Protection Project in Poland and the Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA). The Project preparation process has also involved the participation of the Secretariat of Baltic 21.

 Project Goals and Objectives.

Project design is based on the Large Marine Ecosystem Concept (LME) and targets cooperative management of land, coastal and marine transboundary issues. Its objective is to create some preconditions for application of the ecosystem approach in managing the Baltic Sea Large Marine Ecosystem in order to achieve and maintain sustainable biological productivity of the Baltic Sea. The long-term goal of the JCP is to support the "restoration of the ecological balance" of the Baltic Sea through a phased program of actions. Consistent with JCP priorities, measures will also be taken to improve environmental management at the regional, national and local level by strengthening assessment and monitoring, and by supporting environmentally sound agriculture, coastal management, and fishery practices. 

Approach.

The LME concept includes five interrelated modules: productivity related to carrying capacity, ecosystem health, fish and fisheries, socioeconomic, and management, (superscript: 1). Concept provides a framework for an ecosystem-based approach for sustainable management. The ecosystem-based management approach provides an additional tool to improve degraded conditions in the Baltic Sea. This approach recognizes civil society, economics, and the land, coastal and marine environments as an integrated system. Figure 1 illustrates the Project design and integrated approach. The Project design is comprehensive, addressing JCP objectives, threats to the Baltic Sea and transboundary issues through land, coastal and marine-based activities (see Annex 12, Transboundary Analysis).

 Project  Phases.

The overarching Regional Baltic Sea  Program, for which the GEF Council has approved $18.0 million,  will be implemented over a 6 year period in three phases. The current project constitutes Phase 1. Phases 2 and 3 will be implemented as stand alone projects and will be submitted for endorsement by GEF Council and approval by the World Bank Board of Directors separately. The three Phases are as follows: 

Project Components.

Phase 1.

The Project has four components (summarized in Table C of this Annex). The Project has a total budget of US$ 12.12 million and will be implemented over a three-year period from 2002 to 2004. The components and component activities include:    

Project Management and Administration

Cooperating International Bodies.

Responsibility for Project management and implementation will rest with HELCOM in coordination with IBSFC and ICES. Though each institution has a distinct operational mandate, their statutes call for cooperation and coordination with other bodies. The primary roles of these three bodies are described briefly below.

The institutional arrangements are based on a decentralized approach that combines regional and national level coordination with local level implementation. Primary responsibility for Project management will rest with HELCOM, which will serve as the executing agency for the Project and will undertake this work in full coordination with IBSFC and ICES. For this purpose a Project Implementation Team (PIT) will be established in HELCOM headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The PIT will be staffed by two HELCOM Professional Secretaries and the Administrative Officer of HELCOM. This staff will be assisted by a Financial Assistant and a Procurement Consultant that will support procurement and disbursement actions as well as by a Project Assistant in co-operation with the Component Coordinators (C1C and C2C). The Executive Secretary of HELCOM will supervise the work of PIT.  The BSRP Core Group, which has supported preparation of the Project, will be replaced by the Baltic Sea Steering Group (BSSG) that will provide broad-based support for the implementation process. The BSSG will consist of members from HELCOM, IBSFC and ICES; senior level representatives of the Baltic riparian countries; Baltic 21, and NOAA. The BSSG will be jointly chaired by the Executive Secretary of HELCOM and Secretary General of ICES. It will not compete with any of the existing HELCOM or ICES Regional Working Groups, but cooperate to facilitate regional capacity building for a coordinated ecosystem-based management approach for the Baltic Sea ecosystem.

Status of Project preparation.

Project preparatioini is basically completed. It is expected that project will be approved by the GEF Council and approved by the Board of the Directors of the World Bank by end of 2002, and will become effective in early 2003.