Coastal/Marine GI/GIS - A Pan-European Perspective
51
HELCOM include Denmark, Estonia, European Community, Finland, Germany,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The main aim of the Convention is to
protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution, whether
from land, ships at sea or airborne.
The Commission meets annually with occasional meetings held at Ministerial
level, reaching unanimous agreement on actions to be taken to achieve the aims of
pollution prevention, which are then regarded as recommendations to the governments
concerned. There are four Committees (Environment, Technological, Maritime,
Combating), the Programme Implementation Task Force and an Administration Unit.
As of March 1996, there were 116 separate Recommendations accepted by the
signatories to the Convention - far too many to even begin to review in this chapter.
However, as one might expect from a major convention regarding marine pollution,
very many of these Recommendations bear either directly or indirectly on coastal zone
management and research.
Full details of all activities of HELCOM and texts of all Recommendations
can be accessed from their Web site at URL http://www.helcom.fi/.
International Initiatives/Programmes Active in Europe
As to international programmes, UNEP has already been mentioned in relation to the
Baltic Sea programme. Other UN organisations involved in marine or coastal
research, training or education include UNESCO, the WMO - World Meteorological
Office, FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNIDO - UN Industrial
Development Organisation, IMO - International Maritime Organisation and more.
The three institutions briefly described below are included separately in this chapter, as
they strongly support various initiatives in the European region and/or work jointly
with other EU Institutions in the various European coastal areas.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION (IOC) - UNESCO
IOC, founded in 1960, comprises an Assembly, Executive Council and Secretariat
(based in Paris) representing 125 member states and has established several subsidiary
bodies. Because IOC’s activities are mainly global, with regional subsidiaries in the
major ocean areas of the world, its activities and objectives will be reported on more
fully in an allied paper from the same author. The IOC lends support to numerous
national and regional programmes and initiatives, such as ICoD, ICCOPS,
MEDCOAST and others in the Mediterranean region, and has a separate Regional
Committee for the Black Sea. It also supports TEMA - Training, Education and
Mutual Assistance in the marine sciences. IOC is also responsible for the Global
Ocean Observing System (GOOS), including coastal zone activities.
51
HELCOM include Denmark, Estonia, European Community, Finland, Germany,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The main aim of the Convention is to
protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution, whether
from land, ships at sea or airborne.
The Commission meets annually with occasional meetings held at Ministerial
level, reaching unanimous agreement on actions to be taken to achieve the aims of
pollution prevention, which are then regarded as recommendations to the governments
concerned. There are four Committees (Environment, Technological, Maritime,
Combating), the Programme Implementation Task Force and an Administration Unit.
As of March 1996, there were 116 separate Recommendations accepted by the
signatories to the Convention - far too many to even begin to review in this chapter.
However, as one might expect from a major convention regarding marine pollution,
very many of these Recommendations bear either directly or indirectly on coastal zone
management and research.
Full details of all activities of HELCOM and texts of all Recommendations
can be accessed from their Web site at URL http://www.helcom.fi/.
International Initiatives/Programmes Active in Europe
As to international programmes, UNEP has already been mentioned in relation to the
Baltic Sea programme. Other UN organisations involved in marine or coastal
research, training or education include UNESCO, the WMO - World Meteorological
Office, FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNIDO - UN Industrial
Development Organisation, IMO - International Maritime Organisation and more.
The three institutions briefly described below are included separately in this chapter, as
they strongly support various initiatives in the European region and/or work jointly
with other EU Institutions in the various European coastal areas.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION (IOC) - UNESCO
IOC, founded in 1960, comprises an Assembly, Executive Council and Secretariat
(based in Paris) representing 125 member states and has established several subsidiary
bodies. Because IOC’s activities are mainly global, with regional subsidiaries in the
major ocean areas of the world, its activities and objectives will be reported on more
fully in an allied paper from the same author. The IOC lends support to numerous
national and regional programmes and initiatives, such as ICoD, ICCOPS,
MEDCOAST and others in the Mediterranean region, and has a separate Regional
Committee for the Black Sea. It also supports TEMA - Training, Education and
Mutual Assistance in the marine sciences. IOC is also responsible for the Global
Ocean Observing System (GOOS), including coastal zone activities.