Proposer:

Name: Erik Bonsdorff

e-mail address: erik.bonsdorff@abo.fi

Primary site for the Archipelago Sea in the Northern Baltic Sea, Western Åland Islands (at the junction between the Baltic Proper, the Gulf of Bothnia, and the Archipelago Sea & Gulf of Finland).

Total area 24 600 ha (islands and water included), 13 200 ha consisting of water.

No industry, factories or major water outflow in or close to the region.

List potential sources of pollution that are likely to impinge on the site:-

Industrial pollution: -

Agricultural pollution: fish farming (prod. 80tons/year), average Baltic eutrophication

Mining: -

Dumping: -

Dredging: -

What is the human population of the site in total and per unit area? What is the average population growth per year?

The human population within the area is 520 (1 person/47ha) and the average population growth is ± 0 (usually negative), in 2000 +0.4%

How is sewage disposed of? If possible give an estimate of the quantity and quality of the output.

Municipality dumping ground and recycling stations in the villages.

Describe the extent of commercial fishing in the area. Please specify the kinds of gear used (trawling, seine netting, lobster pots etc.)

5-8 part time fishermen in the area, all fishing with gillnets. Seasonal fishing common, for example pikeperch (Stizosteidon lucioperca) is caught only in spring.

Other species caught for more or less commercial use are whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), perch (Perca fluviatilis), baltic herring (Clupea harengus), pike (Esox lucius) and flounder (Platichthys flesus).

Give an account of tourist activities in the area (how many tourists per year; what do they do?).

120 small cottages for rent in the area, used mainly in summer by tourists. 4 guesthouses/hotels with 150 beds situated within the area. Tourists use parts of the area for recreational purposes and sport fishing.

Provide evidence that there are no natural stressors such as high turbidity or reduced salinity that are atypical of the region.

No river out flows or other atypical stressors in the region.

Give references to any chemical or physical data that support the claim that this is a pristine site.

Kauppila & Bäck 2001: The state of Finnish coastal waters in the 90s. - Helsinki : Finnish Environment Institute 2001. 134 p.

Nummelin 2000: Vattenmiljön kring Åland, -miljötillståndsrapport 1999, Ålands utredningsserie 2000:3. Water Environment around Åland Islands. 28p. In Swedish.

List the range of habitats present at the site:-

Littoral

Rock: Yes

Sand: Yes

Mud: Yes

Sublittoral

Rock: Yes

Sand: Yes

Mud: Yes

Geographically very diverse, ranging from shallow inner bays to outer exposed skerries.

How representative is this site of its region (i.e. what regional habitats are missing)?

No regional habitats are missing in the proposed area

For what groups of organisms are comprehensive inventories available? Please list major taxa in each category below, and list publications.

Only examples given:

Macrobenthos: Mollusca, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Crustacea

Meiobenthos: Nematoda, Crustacea

Microbenthos:-

Zooplankton:-

Phytobenthos: Chlorophyceae, Fucophyceae, Bangiophyceae, Nostocophyceae

Phytoplankton:

Fish

Birds

List any other publications relating specifically to the biodiversity or environment at the site.

Reports (in total >300) on biological surveys made at the Husö biological station starting in 1961Ý . Includes international reviewed papers as well as reports for the Åland’s government and administrative board, MSc-thesis and PhD-thesis at Åbo Akademi University.

List publications relating to historical/time-series data at the site.

Reports (in total >200) on biological surveys made at the Husö biological station starting in 1961Ý . Includes both reports for the Åland’s government and administrative board, MSc-thesis and PhD-thesis. Most reports in Swedish with English summary.

Is biodiversity information available in electronic form? If so, what is the nature of the database (CD-ROM, web-site)?

No

What conservation legislation (national, European, international) is currently in place, how well is it implemented and how long will it last?

4 Natura 2000 areas are established in our proposed site. Their total area is 1120 ha.

How accessible is the location?

15 minutes drive from airport to biological station, proposed site starting100 m from the station.

Is it limited seasonally (e.g. not accessible in winter)?

No, accessible all year.

Is it accessible by car or by boat (indicate means of transport and distance from laboratory facilities in km)?

Some areas accessible by car, entire proposed flagship site accessible by boat, 0.1 km to 20 km from laboratory facilities

What is the status of local facilities?

Good, electricity, e-mail, phone, fax, warm water, three meals/day served etc.

Laboratory: Sampling gear, laboratory- (for analysis of water samples, benthos and plankton) and experimental facilities

Boats: Vessel available for open coastal work, and several small boats for archipelago studies.

Are these facilities available for guest researchers? Yes

What facilities are there for SCUBA diving?

Compressor, bottles, weigh belts available, most other equipment brought by divers.

What housing is available?

Accommodation for up to 30 persons, kitchen, full pension.

List the sources of funding currently in place specifically for biodiversity research at this site (from where and how much).

Academy of Finland, FIBRE, biodiversity program 20 000 Euro

Nessling foundation 77 000 Euro

Åland’s government and administrative board 60 000 Euro

Mare, MISTRA, Sweden 150 000 Euro

EU Life Algae 160 000 Euro

Finnish Environment Institute 5 000 Euro

National Board of Fisheries, Sweden 1 000 Euro

EU Charm, 150 000 Euro

List by name the persons currently involved in biodiversity research at this site, their roles and the percentage of their time spent on this research.

Prof. Erik Bonsdorff 20% benthos, algae &fish

Prof. Erkki Leppäkoski 20% non native species

PhD, Johanna Mattila 20% fish, macroalgae

PhD Olof Rönnberg 10% macroalgae

PhD Tore Lindholm 100% plankton

PhD Katri Aarnio 50% meiobenthos

PhD Christoffer Boström 20%, assistent, seagrassbeds

MSc Lotta Nummelin 50% water quality/plankton, monitoring

MSc Jens Perus 100% macrofauna

MSc Minna Tallqvist 20% hypoxia & fauna

MSc Sonja Salovius 20% macroalgae & benthos

MSc Alfred Sandström, 15%, fish

2 persons/season, 100% employed by the government and administrative board of

Åland, local projects concerning marine biodiversity.

Several students/year working on their MSc-thesis.

Please use this section to add any additional supporting comments, for example what do you think is special about your site from the biodiversity point of view, why is it important to monitor biodiversity there, and what is the public awareness of this?

The government and administrative board of Åland is responsible for monitoring fish occurrences (since 1976) in co-operation with the National Board of Fisheries in Sweden. Two monitoring stations are found in the area. Yearly sampling is performed with gill nets of varying size. All species are analysed (CPUE, length, frequency of diseases). Furthermore eelpout (Zoarces viviparus) is yearly caught to detect environmental stress by studying defects of their fry.

The area is as pristine as possible in the Finnish coastal waters, situated far (>50 km) from any industry or larger community (>1000 pers). Due to Baltic water currents, municipal water from Helsinki, Turku or Stockholm does not directly affect the area. Also the tourist activity is very limited, since the area is remote, inhabited by only two villages. The only known polluter is one small fish farm (prod 80t/y), which likely will be shut down after a few years.