50
R.A. Longhorn
BALTIC SEA DRAINAGE BASIN GIS PROJECT (BGIS) - UNEP/GRID-ARENDAL
Baltic Sea projects often include some countries which have no access to the coastline,
simply because they are part of the larger drainage basin which feeds the Baltic and
which certainly affects the coastal zone. For example, the countries participating in
the Baltic Drainage Basin - Baltic Sea Region database include the coastal states
Finland, Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia (Letland), Lithuania, Poland, Germany,
Denmark, Sweden and Norway, plus landlocked Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic.
Within the BGIS Project is the project MapBSR - Map Data Sets in the Baltic
Sea Region - coordinated by the National Land Survey of Finland, to oversee creation
of the basic map data sets for the Baltic Sea drainage area, using input from the
National Mapping Agencies of the project’s 14 member states. Elements included in
the map data sets include boundaries, hydrography, transport, settlements,
geographical place names, elevation, nature and land use, forming the first uniform,
reliable map data set for the Baltic Sea drainage area and the countries around. Other
thematic data can be added to the database at a later time, such as water quality. Three
of the many themes directly of interest to marine and CZM researchers are bathymetry
(Theme 301), sea area division (302) and coastline (303), joined by rivers (306), lakes
(307) and drainage basins (308). (Langaas, 1993) Details of the MapBSR project, plus
the Nordic map database and Barents Geographic Information Technology database,
are available from the Webmaster at the National Land Survey of Finland, e-mail
webmaster@nls.fi.
BALLERINA - UNEP/GRID-ARENDAL.
The umbrella activity for providing comprehensive environmental information about
the Baltic region began in 1996 as BALLERINA - BALtic Sea Region On-Line
Environmental Information Resources for Internet Access. The main goal of this
ambitious initiative was “to bring more substantive and relevant environmental
information from and about the Baltic Sea region to the Internet ... and to develop a
personal and institutional network of environmental information providers in the
Baltic Sea region...” (UNEP/GRID 1996).
Full information is available on the UNEP/GRID-Arendal activities, including
the
Baltic
Sea
Drainage
Basin
project
and
BGIS
from
URL
http://www.grida.no/baltic/welcome.htm.
HELSINKI COMMISSION - BALTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
COMMISSION (HELCOM)
HELCOM is the acronym for the Helsinki Commission - Baltic Marine
Environment Protection Commission, the governing body for the first Convention on
protecting the Baltic Sea area, signed in 1974 by the Baltic coastal states. The first
Convention was joined by the EU, represented in 1992. Present contracting parties to
R.A. Longhorn
BALTIC SEA DRAINAGE BASIN GIS PROJECT (BGIS) - UNEP/GRID-ARENDAL
Baltic Sea projects often include some countries which have no access to the coastline,
simply because they are part of the larger drainage basin which feeds the Baltic and
which certainly affects the coastal zone. For example, the countries participating in
the Baltic Drainage Basin - Baltic Sea Region database include the coastal states
Finland, Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia (Letland), Lithuania, Poland, Germany,
Denmark, Sweden and Norway, plus landlocked Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic.
Within the BGIS Project is the project MapBSR - Map Data Sets in the Baltic
Sea Region - coordinated by the National Land Survey of Finland, to oversee creation
of the basic map data sets for the Baltic Sea drainage area, using input from the
National Mapping Agencies of the project’s 14 member states. Elements included in
the map data sets include boundaries, hydrography, transport, settlements,
geographical place names, elevation, nature and land use, forming the first uniform,
reliable map data set for the Baltic Sea drainage area and the countries around. Other
thematic data can be added to the database at a later time, such as water quality. Three
of the many themes directly of interest to marine and CZM researchers are bathymetry
(Theme 301), sea area division (302) and coastline (303), joined by rivers (306), lakes
(307) and drainage basins (308). (Langaas, 1993) Details of the MapBSR project, plus
the Nordic map database and Barents Geographic Information Technology database,
are available from the Webmaster at the National Land Survey of Finland, e-mail
webmaster@nls.fi.
BALLERINA - UNEP/GRID-ARENDAL.
The umbrella activity for providing comprehensive environmental information about
the Baltic region began in 1996 as BALLERINA - BALtic Sea Region On-Line
Environmental Information Resources for Internet Access. The main goal of this
ambitious initiative was “to bring more substantive and relevant environmental
information from and about the Baltic Sea region to the Internet ... and to develop a
personal and institutional network of environmental information providers in the
Baltic Sea region...” (UNEP/GRID 1996).
Full information is available on the UNEP/GRID-Arendal activities, including
the
Baltic
Sea
Drainage
Basin
project
and
BGIS
from
URL
http://www.grida.no/baltic/welcome.htm.
HELSINKI COMMISSION - BALTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
COMMISSION (HELCOM)
HELCOM is the acronym for the Helsinki Commission - Baltic Marine
Environment Protection Commission, the governing body for the first Convention on
protecting the Baltic Sea area, signed in 1974 by the Baltic coastal states. The first
Convention was joined by the EU, represented in 1992. Present contracting parties to