New HELCOM report published from the Expert Group on Wildlife Response

The Helsinki Convention, the Regional Agreement for the Baltic Sea, has recently published the ‘Report on wildlife response activities and preparedness by the HELCOM Expert Group on Wildlife Response’. The report, co-authored by Sea Alarm and the HELCOM Secretariat, is published every two years and collates information from the Contracting Parties to the Convention on their recent activities for wildlife preparedness response.

The HELCOM Expert Group on Wildlife Response (EG Wildlife) is responsible for the report. The EG Wildlife works to strengthen the cooperation between HELCOM Contracting Parties in the field of oiled wildlife response. It acts as a forum for the exchange of information on progress and best practices, and facilitates the creation of joint standards and cross-border cooperation in oiled wildlife response. Where possible, it also facilitates the training of national experts and exchange of training materials.

As part of the report, Contracting Parties complete Sea Alarm’s Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) which allows countries to assess their levels of preparedness for an oiled wildlife incident in the areas of planning and integration, exercises, training, equipment and facilities, euthanasia, partnering and funding. You can find the result for each country in the report. This is a useful way for countries now only to evaluate their progress, but also to learn from their neighbours about new approaches and structures for oiled wildlife response.