The Bonn Agreement Secretariat has sent a questionnaire to all the Contracting Parties of the Agreement in order to collect information on current practices with regards to oiled wildlife response and preparedness. This was an action that was agreed in last year’s meeting of OTSOPA, the technical working group of the Agreement.
During a recent visit to Helsinki in the framework of HELCOM Response, Sea Alarm’s Hugo Nijkamp met with Vesa Numinen and Tomi Rask of the Helsinki City Rescue Department (HCRD) to discuss oiled wildlife response preparedness.
Sea Alarm are delighted to have been granted observed official observer status at HELCOM, which was agreed at the Helsinki Commission meeting in Helsinki on 4-5 March 2010.
Sea Alarm attended the 12th HELCOM RESPONSE meeting on 17-19 February in Helsinki. During this meeting the Response Group approved a formal HELCOM recommendation on wildlife preparedness and response, prepared by Sea Alarm, Estonia and WWF Finland.
Sea Alarm and WWF Finland organised an international workshop on oiled wildlife response planning for countries bordering the Baltic Sea. The workshop took place in Tallinn on 5 October 2009, back to back with the Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference which allowed participants to take advantage of both events. The Estonian Ministry of Environment hosted the workshop, which was attended by 20 participants, including 16 delegates from 6 Baltic Sea Countries. The main objective of the workshop was to familiarise participants with the elements of an oiled wildlife response and the various steps of a planning process.
Sea Alarm attended the 18th Meeting of the Environmental Safety Aspects of Shipping Advisory Group of the Black Sea Commission that took place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 4 and 5 of November 2009. The ESAS AG Group, an integral part of the Black Sea Commission institutional structure, coordinates the regional approach to emergency response, particularly international response to accidents involving extraction, maritime transport, handling and storage of oil and hazardous chemicals.
Sea Alarm attended the HELCOM Response meeting that took place from 23-25 September in Stockholm, Sweden. An important agenda item was the discussion of a paper prepared by Estonia, Sea Alarm and WWF that seeks to include oiled wildlife response in the HELCOM Response Manual.
Sea Alarm’s Hugo Nijkamp was present at the OTSOPA meeting, held in Rotterdam from 26-28 May. He reported on recent developments in the European scene of oiled wildlife response and preparedness, including the EMPOWER initiative, the decision by Helcom Response to include oiled wildlife response in the Response Manual, and the upcoming Effects of Oil on Wildlife (EOW) Conference. OTSOPA is the technical committee of the Bonn Agreement, the regional agreement for mutual oil pollution response cooperation between coastal states in the North East Atlantic.
Following this presentation, OTSOPA decided to include a chapter on oiled wildlife response in the Bonn Agreement Counter-Pollution Manual, which is a significant step towards the further recognition of integrated oiled wildlife response.
In order to develop a better understanding of current nature conservation and protection issues in the Mediterranean, Sea Alarm’s Roser Gasol attended the Ninth Meeting of Focal Points for Specially Protected Areas (SPAs) in Malta on the 3-6 June 2009. This biennial meeting is organised by the Tunisian-based Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA), whose primary role is to assist the Contracting Parties in the implementation of the Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Biodiversity within the framework of the Barcelona Convention.
At the recent Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) meeting in June, Sea Alarm discussed the possibilities for increased preparedness for oiled wildlife response in the Mediterranean with representatives of RAC/SPA and ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area).
In March, Hugo Nijkamp attended a meeting at the Ministry of Environment in Tallinn, Estonia together with representatives from the Estonian Ministry of Environment, the HELCOM Secretariat and WWF Finland. Together, the participants discussed a proposal that will be submitted at upcoming HELCOM RESPONSE meeting in September, which seeks to integrate oiled wildlife response into the existing Helcom Response Manual.
Whilst in Tallinn, Hugo also met with Agni Kaldma and Juri-Ott Salm of the Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF), the local partner and co-host of the 10th Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference.
HELCOM RESPONSE is moving swiftly forward to integrate oiled wildlife response in its activities. Sea Alarm and WWF-Finland have been an integral part of the process.