Download Cohabitating with the EU An environmental manager`s

Cohabitating with the EU
An environmental manager’s
viewpoint on the synergies and
conflicts between EU and national
regulations in the aquatic environment
Melanie Josefsson
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Waterford, Ireland June 1, 2010
Commitments to developing
EWS
• CBD Guiding Principles on IAS VI/23, GP 7
• Bern Convention’s European Strategy on IAS
• EU Communication on Biodiversity (COM
(2006)216) Halting the loss of biodiversity
– Obj 5. To substantially reduce the impact of IAS
and alien genotypes
• IMO Ballast Water Convention
– HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan: Regional
Information System with Early Warning by 2013
What do we need to consider?
• IMO Ballast Water Convention
• EU regulations
– Use of alien and locally absent species in
aquaculture (708/2007/EC)
– Marine Strategy Framework (2008/56/EC)
– Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)
– Habitat Directive
– Plant Health Directive (2000/29/EC)
– Animal Health Directive (2006/88/EC)
• Regional agreements /HELCOM, OSPAR
Ballast water Convention
International Convention for the Control and
Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediment
2004
•
•
To prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the
transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and
pathogens through the control and management
of ships’ ballast water and sediments.
Requires a Warning System for harmful organisms
and uptake areas
- Areas known to contain outbreaks, infestations or
populations of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and
Pathogens (e.g. harmful algal blooms) which are likely to
be taken up in Ballast Water, should be identified and
avoided where possible (Guidelines on designation of
areas for Ballast Water Exchange (G14).
Marine Strategy Directive
General requirements
• General requirements
– MS develop a Marine strategy with the aim of
achieving or maintaining good environmental
status in the marine environment by 2021
– Ecosystem approach
– MS should make an initial assessment of current
environmental status by 2012
– MS establish environmental targets and
indicators by 2012
– MS establish monitoring program by 2016
– Program of measures 2016-2020
Assessments of water’s environmental
status
1. Analysis of essential characteristics and
current environmental status of waters
• Table 1. Biological features
–
•
An inventory of the temporal occurrence,
abundance and spatial distribution of nonindigenous, exotic species or, where relevant,
genetically distinct forms of native species,
which are present in the region/sub- region
Table 2 – Pressures and Impacts
- Biological Disturbance. Introduction of nonindigenous species and translocations
Assessments of water’s environmental
status (cont.)
2. Analysis of predominant pressures and
impacts including human activity on
characteristics and environmental
status of waters
3. Economic and social analysis of their
use and cost of degradation of the
marine environment
Criteria for good environmental status relevant
to the descriptors of Annex I to Directive
2008/56/EC
• Descriptor 2 Non-indigenous species
• 2.1 Abundance and state characterisation
of non-indigenous species, in particular
invasive species
• 2.1.1 Trends in abundance, temporal
occurrence and spatial distribution in the
wild of non-indigenous species, particularly
invasive non-indigenous species, notably in
risk areas, in relation to main vectors and
pathways of such species.
Descriptor 2 Non-indigenous species
(cont.)
• 2.2 Environmental impact of invasive species
• 2.2.1 Ratio between invasive species and
native species in some well studied
taxonomic groups, e.g. fish, macroalgae,
molluscs that may provide a measure of
change in species composition further to
displacement of native species
• 2.2.2 Impacts of invasive species at the level
of species, habitats and ecosystem
Conclusion
• Additional scientific and technical
development is required for
developing potentially useful
indicators, especially of impacts of
invasive species (such as biopollution
indexes), which remain the main
concern for achieving good
environmental status.
Biopollution index
BPL= relative abundance, distribution,
magnitude of impacts
– Magnitude of IAS impacts on native species
• No displacement av inhemska arter
• Local displacement , no extinction
• Large scale displacement
• Population extinctions
• Population extinctions of native keystone
species
– Assess impact on habitats
– Assess impacts on ecosystem functioning
Water Framework Directive
–
–
–
Purpose of the WFD – to ensure that
inland, transitional and coastal waters
achieve or maintain a good ecological
status
IAS not specifically mentioned in the
WFD, but considered by most countries
as a pressure and detract from
naturalness. Annex V consider IAS as
“potential “anthropogenic impact”
Guidance from the EC on WFD
Options for Assessing IAS in the
Ecological Status Classification
Approaches to dealing with IAS vary greatly
between countries (and within countries)
1) Water body classified using pressure-based
classification tools, classification then modified in
an additional step based on IAS
2) Water body classed then modified depending on
the abundance or percentage coverage of IAS
3) No additional assessment of IAS on the assumption
that impacts of IAS are detected in existing
instruments
4) Separate risk assessment for IAS undertaken,
biopollution indexes published alongside water
classification, but doesn’t affect classification
Other regional agreements
•
HELCOM
- Undertake monitoring in order to undertake risk assessments.
Species that pose the major ecological harm and those that can
be easily identified and monitored
- Alert to ships not to take up ballast water during outbreaks of
harmful species and other high risk conditions
- Exchange of information
•
OSPAR
- Voluntary Guidelines for the management of ships’ ballast water
and sediment
•
EPPO, Bern Convention, Bonn Convention, RAMSAR, CBD,
ICAO
National regulations and
Objectives
• Need for national monitoring and EW
systems
• Requirements rapidly increasing while
resources are dwindling
• Need for coordination in developing
warning systems to ensure no double
work
• Need for an ”ultimate solution”
”Mother-of all-warning systems” paid
for by someone else?
National approaches
• Go ahead and take measures and
develop systems at the risk of wastage
and/or censure
• Wait and see what the EC will require
of MS
Proposed Swedish Early Warning and Rapid Response System
Analysis of the surrounding world
Monitoring
International information systems
– New species can enter Sweden
– New species discovered
Information to the Rapid Response
Group
Reports to the Species Information
System, Quality control and
verification
Information to the secretariate, competent
authorities and country administration
boards
Rapid Response Plans
Risk analysis
Secretariate, Sectoral authorities,
County Administrative Boards
Authorities, secretariate and experts
Measures
Secretariate, Sectoral authorities,
County Administrative Boards