Abstract
Four watersheds, each characterized by a major resource use were selected
for the study: The Vistula River in Poland--agriculture; the Dalalven
River in Sweden--forestry; the Archipelago Sea in Sweden, Finland,
Estonia--tourism; and the Lake Peipsi in Estonia/Russia--fisheries/agriculture.
The main objective was to examine the reactions of particular ecosystems
within the Baltic Sea drainage area, and to assess sustainability
conditions on the regional level.The degree of sustainability and
impact on the Baltic Sea were investigated through workshops and
seminars in the areas. Overviews of environmental and socio-economic
conditions were succinctly summarized in commissioned papers. Interventions
by and discussions with scholars, sector experts, administrators
and stakeholders of the various sites laid the foundation for conceptualizing
the interaction of natural and human forces for each case. The project
was able to draw quite a number of conclusions, summarized as the
following lessons learnt.In the Vistula Region, nutrient emissions
have levelled off but shortage of freshwater is critical. Forestry
in the Dalalven watershed is largely environmental-friendly, except
for fragmentation of the landscape and its negative impact on biodiversity.
In the Archipelago area a former low-energy community has been replaced
by a leisure time society. Different types of tourism is developing,
but despite this variety, an improved integration of ecological properties
with socio-economic patterns is required in order to build a sustainable,
living Archipelago. The lake Peipsi basin and the surrounding area
suffer both from problems of resource management and economic backwardness.
Parts of the local economy has lost access to the one time large
Soviet market, although the Estonian side has apparently benefited
from present economic growth. To cope with the division of the lake,
a regime for trans-national management is unfolding. It is based
on both informal and, to an increasing extent, agreed professional
contacts.Networks of engaged people were in all sites a resource
for and promoter of the sustainability path. In order to succeed
and to maintain the zeal, they need strong institutional support
and common goals. Public programmes in the Baltic, ie. the work of
the Helsinki Commission and Baltic Agenda 21, have developed instruments
to enhance sustainability beneficial for the management of these
watersheds. But critical tasks remain to be done in developing a
shared understanding of ways to improve management of ecosystems
with social factors.
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