Photo: Terhi Ryttäri HELCOM Red List of Species and Biotopes Progress of the project HELCOM RED LIST Fishes 28 February-1 March 2012 Project Coordinator Jannica Haldin

Checklists of Baltic Sea Species

Checklists of Baltic Sea species Publication: All checklists and their documentation compiled into one document Publication on the HELCOM webpages by 1 March 2012 Scientific publication on checklist by the Benthic Invertebrates team & possibly the Macrophyte team After publication: one month of public review during which the scientific community can scrutinize and supply comments/suggestions. Comments collected at Secretariat, then forwarded to the teams →final update

Assessments

Assessments of species Follows the IUCN guidelines for regional assessments Assessment templates can be used All species/biotopes found in the previous Red Lists (BSEPs 75, 109 and 113) must be assessed any changes in status documented Assessments are to be documented by the experts on the documentation template → Information to be used on the Species Information Sheet

Assessments Species information sheet to be compiled for every species on the list of assessed species (CR,EN,VU, NT and DD) as well as any previously redlisted pecies that now falls outside the threath categories.

Assessments Species information sheet should contain: –Scientific name –Species authority –Taxonomic group –IUCN criteria –Red List category –Picture/drawing –Distribution and status in the Baltic Sea region –Distribution map –Habitat and Ecology –Description of major threats –Assessment justification –Recommendations for actions to conserve the species –References

HELCOM Red List Activites

HELCOM Red List Project Teams have worked in e.g. to –finalize the checklists of the Baltic Sea species –harmonize the assessment principles among species teams (IUCN Red List criteria and guidelines are followed) –collect distributional data for species –continue the development of biotope classification of the Baltic Sea trough the BSEUNIS project

Red List of species activities in Macrophyte Team has held four meetings: -checklist and distributional data finalized -list of species which clearly represent the IUCN Red List categories Least Concern (LC, not threatened), Not Applicable (NA, e.g. introduced species) and Not Evaluated (NE, very poorly known taxa that cannot be evaluated at all) -  list of candidate species (about 60 species) -species divided between experts for assessment at the last meeting in October in Gothenburg, Sweden -Next meeting at Askö fieldstation, Sweden Foto:Malin EK Foto: Metsähallitus /Jan Ekebom

Benthic Invertebrate Team has held three meetings: -checklist and distributional data finalized -list of species which clearly represent the IUCN Red List categories Least Concern, Not Applicable and Not Evaluated -  list of candidate species (over 240 species) -Species divided between experts for assessment at the last meeting in Rostock, Germany. -due to the very large amount of species to be assessed the deadline for the BI team was postponed until the middle of June Scientific manuscript submitted to Oceanologica Foto: Metsähallitus /Jan Ekebom Foto: Raisa Turja Red List of species activities in

Fish Team had its second meeting in December 2011: -checklist finalized -list of species which clearly represent the IUCN Red List categories Least Concern and Not Applicable -  list of candidate species (about 120 species) -next meeting 28 February-1 March in Uppsala, Sweden Foto: Metsähallitus /Jan Ekebom

Red List of species activities in Waterbirds Team -produced a final draft for the Red List of Baltic Breeding -draft has been published on the HELCOM webpages in January Will be incorporated into the HELCOM Red List of Baltic Sea Species by early produced a proposal for a Red List of birds wintering in the Baltic and are currently making a Red List of Baltic Sea Wintering Birds Foto: Jannica Haldin

Red List of species activities in Marine Mammals Team had its first meeting in September 2011: -checklist finalized -species to be assessed divided between experts Foto: Jannica Haldin

HELCOM Red List Biotopes work Biotopes Team has had four meetings, the last one in Vilnius: -has started the project for creating a compatible EUNIS classification for the Baltic Sea habitats/biotopes -to be a cooperation between consultants and the work of expert workshops. -assessment to be partly based on expert questionnaire -assessments to be made parallel to the classification work. Foto: Raisa Turja Foto: Metsähallitus /Jan Ekebom

Structure of HELCOM Biotopes work

Four subtasks almost finalized: –Checklists of the Baltic Sea species –Distributional datasets for the Baltic Sea for all species –Lists of species to be assessed –Lists of species which clearly represent categories Least Concern, Not Applicable and Not Evaluated Next tasks: –Collect data for the species to be assessed in more detail –Prepare assessments for them (in all about 390 species) –Document the assessments –Compile Species Information Sheets –Finalize the Red List for the Baltic Sea report Red List of species activities in

Red List timetable for