Progress report for
Baltic Sea region: Soil carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling to combat eutrophication and climate change
Achievement at a glance
Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) continues to sharpen its focus on systemic changes to save the Baltic Sea. Starting in October, the Foundation is part of two consortia dealing with two ultimate issues:<br>
<br>1. BSAG is part of a consortium lead By Vahanen Consulting Ltd that is analyzing the scale and effects of the massive amounts of nutrients (P and N) that are stored in the bottom sediments. Since more than a third of the bottom area is oxygen-free (apoxic), the stored P is released continously to increase eutrophication of the sea, i.e.increased algal growth and further distortion of the ecosystem, incl. fish stocks. This issue has been strangely banned from even scientific discussion and debate over the years. BSAG, however, has kept the issue on the agenda for years, and now the Finnish Ministry of the Environment has ordered a broad analysisi of the whole issue: the phenomenon, its effects, its scale; technical/chemical/biological possibilities to deal with the internal load; socio-economic effects; costs and financing models etc.
<br>The work will produce a road map for actions and BSAG will promote such actions very actively.
<br>The report is to be published in April 2018.
<br>
<br>2. The Finnish Foundation for Innovation SITRA, is financing BSAG and the Finnish Institute of Meteorology for the first phase in a very large Project dealing with carbon sequestration. The duration of this first phase is two years.
<br>The scope of the project is to understand how organic material best can be used to restore the feritlity of agricultural land. The strong scientific part includes analyses of different carbon sources, how carbon is taken up and stored by the soil, how the carbon is re-released into crops, how and with what dynamics humus is formed in the soil. The work involves alrge set of farms having different soils.
<br>The project is strongly connected with the global "carbon community" and experts.
<br>BSAG is responsible for the communication both internally between the partners and externally in Finland and globally.
<br>The vision is that this work will result in a soil and agricultural state policy for Finland.
<br>All results of this large work is communicated globally and will be applicable all over the planet.