Having just reported that HELCOM Response was recommending stronger oiled wildlife response targets, Sea Alarm is pleased to note that on 3 October, the 2013 Copenhagen Ministerial Meeting of HELCOM, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, has agreed on those targets.
Following Hugo Nijkamp’s presentation of a joint Sea Alarm and WWF-Finland paper, HELCOM Response has recommended strengthening targets for integrating wildlife response into Baltic area oil spill response planning.
On 28 June 2013, the European Union published a new Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in its Official Journal. The Directive represents a significant milestone as this is the first time that oiled wildlife response is specifically mentioned within European legislation. Sea Alarm welcomes the inclusion of protection of oiled wildlife within the scope of this Directive.
Sea Alarm, in consultation with the Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune Sauvage et des Écosystèmes (CVFSE) and WWF Finland, has developed an Oiled Wildlife Response Manual for the Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline cleanup and Oiled Wildlife Interventions (POSOW) project. POSOW, which will run for 2 years, is coordinated by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) and co-funded by the European Commission.
A major part of Sea Alarm’s work is assisting coastal governments, NGOs and other agencies in preparedness for an oiled wildlife response. Regular meetings, trainings and exercises of response plans ensure on-going readiness to respond to wildlife threatened by oil spills.
Sea Alarm is a partner in the launch of new oil spill preparedness website for the Mediterranean and in updating oiled wildlife guidelines to reflect knowledge gained over the last 10 years.
REMPEC and its Partners, namely the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE), the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Sea Alarm Foundation, and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) are pleased to announce the launch of the new POSOW website.
Sea Alarm is continuing its efforts to help Baltic countries to develop their oiled wildlife preparedness by assisting with organisation of two international events in 2012. These events had been proposed as part of a HELCOM Work Programme on Oiled Wildlife Preparedness and Response, submitted by Estonia, Sea Alarm and WWF Finland and adopted in 2010.
A new Bonn Agreement Counter Pollution Manual Chapter on oiled wildlife response was adopted at the May 2011 meeting of OTSOPA (the Working Group on Operational, Technical and Scientific Questions concerning Counter Pollution Activities).
Sea Alarm has entered a new phase of cooperation with Mediterranean coastal states via an MoU with the Regional Emergency Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC). The MoU was signed on 4th May 2011 during the 10th REMPEC Focal Points meeting.
A second 2010 HELCOM RESPONSE meeting was held 13-15 October in St. Petersburg, Russia. Sea Alarm did not attend the meeting, but prepared a proposal for a working programme for oiled wildlife response preparedness together with WWF-Finland and Estonia. The proposal was presented to the meeting by Estonia and WWF-Finland and, after some discussion and suggestions for modification, was adopted.
At the recent Ministerial Meeting in Moscow, Ministers from all contracting parties to the Helsinki Convention have adopted a new Recommendation called “Integrated oiled wildlife response planning in the Baltic Sea Area”. This Recommendation was developed by Sea Alarm in close cooperation with Estonia and WWF-Finland.