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Many opportunities for the protection of waters and the Baltic Sea

Everyone can act and work in a responsible way in their daily lives when it comes to protecting waters. There are also many ways to participate in their protection and management. Especially companies and landowners whose activities affect the status of waters have a particular responsibility for sustainable use and protection of waters.
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Nainen seisoo puron reunalla ja ojentaa haavia veteen. Kyse on sähkökoekalastuksesta Imatralla.
The information needed for research, monitoring and restoring water bodies is gathered using different methods. Information about the fish populations is collected in Imatra by means of electric-pulse test fishing. © Pekka Vähänäkki, Kaakkois-Suomen ELY-keskus

You can comment on the planning of water and marine management from December 15, 2023

Comments are requested on the assessment of the state of the marine environment and the water management planning schedule, work program and key questions. Proposals for significant flood risk areas are available for comment from March 15, 2024. All materials are in Finnish, partly in Swedish. 

More information can be found in the official channels of the ELY centers, in the ely-keskus.fi service and on these pages. 

How to act for the well-being of waters at work and at home

Contribute to the well-being of waters with everyday choices 
Sustainable water use (waterinfo.fi)
Water stewardship of companies (waterinfo.fi)
Permits and obligation

Improving the status of waters and the Baltic Sea requires everyone’s contribution – also yours

Management of waters and the Baltic Sea  is a national process that consists of systematic planning and activities aiming for good status of waters. You can also participate in management planning, as well as in the implementation of water protection measures in your local community or at the national level. By joining forces, local actors can have a significant impact on the status of waters.

The aim of management measures is to ensure a good status of groundwater, lakes, and rivers as well as the coastal and open sea areas of the Baltic Sea.

Make a difference – comment on plans and marine strategy during consultations

Protection of waters and the Baltic Sea is based on river basin management plans and marine strategy. But are the plans, for example, missing necessary measures, or are the right things emphasized when it comes to your nearby water body? You can give feedback on the plans and strategy during consultations.

In practice, the management of waters and the Baltic Sea progress in six-year cycles, each having three planning stages including possibility to give feedback during the planning process.

More information on the planning stages, actors and responsibilities related to the management of waters and the Baltic Sea (in Finnish).

Participate in regional cooperation

Regional cooperation groups coordinated by ELY Centres participate in the preparation of management plans for waters and the Baltic Sea. Users of waters and other actors can have an impact on planning through the members of cooperation groups. Those who are interested can contact the chairperson or members of the group. 

The regional cooperation groups bring together the local key actors related to the management of waters and the Baltic Sea. These include, for example, municipalities, regional councils, environmental organisations and actors from industry, agriculture, forestry and water services. The members of a cooperation group act as a link and information channel between their organisations and the cooperation group.

More information on the planning stages, actors and responsibilities related to the management of waters and the Baltic Sea (in Finnish).

How plans are implemented in different sectors

Cooperation and implementation of measures are needed across all sectors of society so that the aim of the reaching the good status of waters, can be achieved by 2027. The necessary measures are specified in more detail in the ELY Centre -specific programmes of measures. 

All measures to improve the status of waters recorded in the programmes should be implemented or at least in progress by 2027. In addition to publications, the measures from the river-basin management plans are available in the map service (in Finnish) for the programmes of measures for the management of waters (etpo.fi).  

The implementation of the measures depend on the actions and funding from different sources. These include, for example, companies, households, NGOs, state authorities, regional state administrative agencies, municipalities, regional councils, research institutes, advocacy groups, associations and volunteer actors. 

Companies and landowners whose activities affect the status of waters have a particular responsibility for sustainable water use and the protection of waters.

Different administrative branches promote the implementation of the measures concerning the management of waters and the Baltic Sea within the limits of their own resources and competences. In practice, this means that the plans do not automatically include funding for all proposed actions. Some of the measures are implemented, for example, in the form of permit conditions set for companies' operations and some by volunteer actions.

Active local actors play a major role in the protection of waters and the Baltic Sea. In practice, protection and restoration is often based on volunteering actors and cooperation between different parties. It is often necessary to start the work by planning where funding can be obtained. 

Plans, programmes and expert planning guides are available in Finnish

All plans, documents and ELY Centres’ web pages on river basin districts related to the management of waters and the Baltic Sea can be found on the Plans for the management of waters and seas page (in Finnish)

Status assessments of lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwater can also be found in the Vesikartta map service (in Finnish).

Expert support materials and instructions are available on the page Expert planning guides for the management of waters and seas (in Finnish).

Publisher

Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)