Particularly Sensitive Particularly Atlantic and Baltic and Atlantic

in the North-East the in briefing Sea Areas pca cr we apocig sniie area. take sensitive to a need approaching the when of care mariners special inform also PSSAs to of serves identification The areas. from sensitive away by or through pollution ships of passage intentional the regulating stop and damage habitat PSSAs canhelpcoastalnationspreventaccidents,avoid European in PSSA first waters. the is Sea, Wadden designated the recently site, most The pipeline. the in of coast is the Peru off 6th the and globally designated been have PSSAs To5 activities. date shipping from impacts harmful to vulnerability their and significance scientific Organization Maritime (IMO) because of their ecological, economic, cultural or International the by action through protection special need that oceans and seas the of areas are (PSSAs) Areas Sea Sensitive Particularly Background measures. (PSSA) protective Areas appropriate Sea with Sensitive along Particularly Europe Western Sea, of waters as Baltic the and the Sea Barents promote the to Maritime (IMO) International the Organization of framework the within and North-East Atlantic to agree to take concerted action Baltic the of Ministers Environment the on calls WWF Recommendation E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: 65846-12 421 +49 Fax: · 65846-22 Tel:421 +49 Germany · Bremen D-28757 · 11 Gütpohl Am North-East Programme WWF Atlantic Lutter Stephan contact: information, For irla, rne ad o h ws ad at f rln ad h UK, the and Sea. North the Ireland of parts relevant and Sea Irish of the including east and west the to and France, Gibraltar, * (PSSAs) The waters of Portugal, Spain including the waters to the Straits of Straits the to waters the including Spain Portugal, of waters The n 98 te SA Environment OSPAR the 1998, In Ministers adopted a new Annex to new Annex a adopted Ministers h Itrainl Maritime International the the OSPAR Convention on the on OSPARConvention the rw h atnin of attention the draw Particularly Sensitive Sea Sensitive Areas Particularly Protection and Conservation and Protection h Cmiso should Commission the f h Eoytm and Ecosystem the of hr i ws desirable, was it where ilgcl iest of Diversity Biological ne siuae that stipulates Annex h Mrtm Area. Maritime the aiie rnpr. The transport. maritime ihn ne Va V Annex Within cin concerning action omtet was commitment ie i rlto to relation in given * , a b mthd o oa nes n conditions. and rules needs local area-specific to matched PSSAs, be can through sensitive. particularly However, are that environment the of marine areas discrete protect to ships all to applicable regulations uniform impose to difficult be can it Thus IMO. the by approved previously been have that ships transiting shore, for regulations the adopt only from can states miles coastal nautical 200 equivalent to or out Zone extending Economic Exclusive the in seas, territorial the Beyond standards. manning or equipment design, construction, new impose nor passage, innocent ship’stransiting of a right "impair" neither may nations navigation and coastal sea, territorial 12-mile environmental their Within regulations. own their enforce and impose to nations coastal of ability the limits law For foreign ships not calling on local ports, international them. protect to assistance PSSA need may they then are impacts, shipping to or sensitive otherwise reefs, submerged or depths, to shallow close passages, narrow are have weather, above bad from the suffer lanes, of shipping any if And education. or science subsistence, traditional recreation, tourism, for importance particular of areas marine benefit can they addition, In stocks. fish valuable for grounds feeding as seabirds, dolphins,sealsorothermarinespecies,aswell and migrating for important marine also are They important habitats. coastal and wetlands intertidal reefs, coral as such ecosystems valuable benefit can PSSAs Sea Sensitive Areas Particularly shipping. from pollution prevent work the to within to states and level Baltic IMO regional for at basis co-operatively the provides a In IV,its Annex with level. conjunction in Convention, Helsinki local or regional comparable butmorespecificway, a Article 8ofthe1992 at response, appropriate action an including achieve to co-operatively IMO work the within should Parties Contracting the addition, In action. for need the to (IMO) Organization Rqieet o dul hls n hp carrying ships on hulls double for Requirement * avoided be * to Areas the area through and in traffic of reporting Mandatory * boats tug of availability on dependant - shore the from distance safer a in routes ship mandatory of Establishment * hazardous substances. hazardous Protective measures suggested measuresProtective for the Barents Sea PSSA: Sea Barents the for Furthermore, the identification of a PSSA also serves to Fig.1: inform mariners of the need to take special care when WWF-Spain approaching a sensitive area. demonstration in Madrid at the PSSA Wadden Sea Neptun fountain of Plaza de las The Wadden Sea is Europe’s largest coastal wetland and one Cibeles. "Neptun is of its last natural areas. It is a shallow sea extending from in mourning. No Den Helder in the Netherlands, along the entire northwest more Prestiges" coast of Germany to Esbjerg in Denmark. The Wadden Sea Credit: © WWF- met the criteria for designation as a PSSA in terms of Canon / Isaac ecological sensitivity, social, cultural and economic VEGA importance and its importance scientifically and for Further reading educational purposes. It experiences around 260,000 HELCOM (2003): Proceedings of the Joint IMO/HELCOM/EU shipping movements a year making it one of the most Workshop: further international actions needed (Warnemünde, Germany, 11-12 March 2003). Helsinki Commission. Helsinki. frequented seas areas world wide and in the German ports alone, 171.5 million tons of cargo were transferred in 1999. IMO (2003): Identification and Protection of Special Areas and Particularly Sensitive Areas: Designation of a Western European PSSA - Designating a PSSA submitted by Belgium, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK. IMO- MEPC 49/8/1. International Maritime Organization. London. Within the IMO it is now acceptable to propose a PSSA alongside the existing protective measures. Furthermore, it WWF (1999): Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas - a precautionary tool to is possible to introduce a PSSA submission and over the protect the world’d sensitive marine ecosystems from shipping impacts following two years bring forward the associated protective such as oil spills, ship groundings, anchore damage and rubbish. WWF UK. Godalming. measures or further associated protective measures. Once the area is designated as a PSSA along with the appropriate WWF (2000): Protection of the Wadden Sea from ship accidents through protective measures, it remains possible to introduce further the establishment of a PSSA Wadden Sea. A realisation plan for the protective measures if these are deemed appropriate trilateral cooperation of Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands. WWF Germany. Bremen/Husum/Frankfurt. to the management and protection of the PSSA. WWF (2002): Shipping on the Southern North Sea. What is PSSA Wadden Draft Text for the Ministerial Declaration Sea? WWF Germany. Husum/Frankfurt. The Ministers agree to take concerted action within the framework of the International Maritime Organization WWF (2003): WWF Proposal PSSA Baltic Sea. WWF Baltic Team. Solna. (IMO) to promote the Baltic Sea, the northern Norwegian Sweden. coast and the waters to the west of Portugal, Spain, WWF (2003): The Barents Sea - a sea of opportunities and threats. France, including the Bay of Biscay and to the west and Petroleum activities and fragile nature. WWF Norway. Oslo. east of Ireland and the UK, including the Irish Sea and relevant parts of the North Sea as a Particularly Sensitive WWF (2003): Draft Guidance Document on Associated Protective Measures for PSSAs. Submission to IMO MEPC 49. Sea Area (PSSA) along with appropriate protective measures. (for boundaries see Fig 2) WWF (2003): Identification and Protection of Special Areas and Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas: Designation of a Western European Particularly Sensitive Sea Area. Comments on MEPC 49/8/1. Briefing prepared by WWF (2003): The Baltic Sea – a globally unique and vulnerable sea area. Sian Pullen, Kristina Gjerde, Anita Mäkinen, Jochen Lamp, Submission to IMO MEPC 49. José Luis Garcia Varas & Andreas Tveteraas

Fig. 2: Map of existing PSSAs and governmental proposals for new PSSAs in the NE Atlantic and Baltic. Amendments proposed by WWF are highlighted. Note: It is not decided yet whether Baltic governments will agree to propose the Barents Sea entire Baltic Sea as a PSSA or just parts of it. PSSA Credit: Sabine Christiansen

Western European PSSA Baltic Sea PSSA Wadden Sea PSSA (adopted Protection Area) Wadden Sea PSSA Government proposals (Atlantic and/or Baltic) Core areas proposed by Baltic states Additional Baltic core areas proposed by WWF Additional areas proposed by WWF: SW Spain, East coast of UK, Irish Sea, Barents Sea, Wadden Sea Intervention Area