BALANCE
Project’s lifetime: July 2005 – December 2007
Budget: € 4’300’000
BALANCE (Baltic Sea Management – Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Ecosystem through Spatial Planning) was an INTERREG III B co-funded project aimed towards development of informed marine management tools for the Baltic Sea based on spatial planning and cross-sectoral and transnational co-operation.
BALANCE inter alia aimed to:
- develop transnational marine spatial planning tools and an agreed template for marine management planning and decision-making;
- develop the “blue corridor” concept and promote “blue corridors” between protected sites adding spatial development dimensions to the implementation of EC Directives;
- assess if the Baltic marine Natura 2000 network was ecological coherent and adequately represents & protects a continuum of habitats;
- develop a communication strategy for stakeholder involvement to ensure that objectives and decisions address local stakeholders needs and that products is used and understood by the end of project;
- enhance awareness of the marine natural heritage and the benefits of sustainable resource use.
BALANCE in particular:
- Identified and collated relevant and available marine data in the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak area.
- Defined Baltic Sea marine landscapes and developed habitat maps, the latter in 4 pilot areas.
- Assessed the existing Baltic Sea Marine Protected Areas network and developed a “blue corridor” concept.
- Developed Baltic marine zoning plans in 2 pilot areas (pilot area 2 and 3).