Third ODINBlackSea Steering Group Meeting Ostende, Belgium 22 October 2010 Informational resources and needs of the Black Sea Commission Volodymyr Myroshnychenko Permanent Secretariat Black Sea Commission

The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (the Black Sea Commission or BSC) is the intergovernmental body established for implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (Bucharest Convention, 1992).

BSC mission Acting on the mandate of the Black Sea countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) BSC implements provisions of the Bucharest Convention, including: its Protocols (CBD, Dumping, LBSA, Emergency ) Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for the Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation of the Black Sea (latest version adopted in 2009)

Priority transboundary problems Eutrophication/Nutrient Enrichment Chemical Pollution, including Oil Changes in Marine Living Resources, Overfishing Biodiversity Changes/Habitats Loss, including Alien Species Introduction Climate Change

Ecosystem Quality Objectives EcoQO 1: Preserve commercial marine living resources. EcoQO 2: Conservation of Black Sea Biodiversity and Habitats. EcoQO 3: Reduce eutrophication. EcoQO 4: Ensure Good Water Quality for Human Health, Recreational Use and Aquatic Biota.

Advisory Groups & Data collection ESAS- Environmental Safety Aspects of Shipping PMA- Pollution Monitoring and Assessment LBS- Control of Pollution from Land Based Sources IDE- Information and Data Exchange ICZM- Development of Common Methodologies for Integrated Coastal Zone Management CBD- Conservation of Biological Diversity FOMLR - Environmental Aspects of the Management of Fisheries and other Marine Living Resources

Information and Data Exchange AG The updated AG IDE ToR was approved at the 22 nd BSC meeting in January 2010, however the group was not created The basic AG IDE duties are carried out by the BSC PS staff The RAC PMA (UkrSCES, Odessa, Ukraine) started works on update and maintenance of the pollution database of Black Sea Information System (BSIS)

Black Sea Information System (BSIS) BSIS databases: Pollution monitoring and assessment database (data since 2001) Biodiversity Conservation database (2001); Fisheries and Aquaculture database (1990); Land-based pollution sources database (1991); BSIS data are comprised from: Data obtained in framework of the Black Sea Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (BSIMAP) Data provided in national reports to BSC Data obtained in framework of supportive activities/ projects

BSIS data types Sea water quality (hydro-physical and hydro- chemical parameters, with special attention to nutrients) Contaminants in sea water, sediments and biota (TM, hydrocarbons, etc) Pollution loads from LBS (including river, municipal and industrial discharges) Hydrobiology samples (plankton, benthos, algae, mammals) Fish stocks and catches, mariculture production

BSIMAP Monitoring Network Monitoring

National institutions involved BulgariaRegional laboratories in Varna and Burgas Georgia Environment Pollution Monitoring Department, MoEPNR Romania National Institute for Marine Research & Development; Water Directorate Dobrogea - Litoral – Constanta* Russia Socchi Hydrometeorological Centre, Tuapse Roshydromet Monitoring Laboratory, Southern Branch of SIO RAS TurkeyIstanbul University, MoEF Ukraine UkrSCES, State Ecological Inspection of the North-West region of the Black Sea (MoEP) *ODINBlackSea member

Data flow Implementing agencies and laboratories National ministries and agencies BSC focal points BSC PS BSIS (Black Sea Information System) Users: scientists, decision-makers, public Standardized format

Usage of monitoring data & information State of Environment reporting (SoE) Transboundary diagnostic analysis Annual reports Assesment of SAP implementation and SAP revision Monitoring data & information BSIS GIS, mapping Trend analysis

State of Environment Report 2006/7 More than 60 scientists involved 12 chapters addressed to different environmental problems as well as socio-economic pressures and impact

Important milestones Next SoE Report – 2011/12, covering period RIP for monitoring of oil pollution Assessment of eutrophication and water quality – 2012 Development of Regional Pollution Database and tools for assessment water quality Initial steps of modeling linking background pollutants values with requirements for reducing input of pollutants

To be taken into consideration MSFD process: initial assessment in 2012 EMODNET SeaDataNet/BlackSeaScene SEIS GMES/MyOcean

Challenges (SoE) Insufficient data in BSIS for indicator-based assessment Insufficient time-series data in BSIS for trend analysis

Major reasons for gaps in BSIS Gaps in data availability (i.e. data have not been collected due to some reasons) Gaps in data reporting (i.e. data are available in the country but due to lack of inter-agency coordination did not became available to AG members for including in reports) Additional data are available outside of BSIS  solution should be sought how these data can become a part of BSIS in a sustainable manner.

Challenges (BSIMAP) Gaps in countries’ monitoring programs: the monitoring is mainly not integrated. Gaps in data flow Difference in sampling and sample analysis techniques Gaps in data availability for regional assessment Different approach in assessment of environmental status Insufficient financial support of monitoring

Data availability & needs in details Indicator groupIndicators/ParametersIn BSIS Outside BSIS Eutrophication NutrientsYY Chl-a (in-situ)limitedY TransparencylimitedY Hypoxia (dis. oxygen)YY Alga bloomsYY Macroalgaelimited Contamination Concentrations in sea waterYY -:- in biotalimited- -:- in sedimentslimited- Biological effects not considered yet- Biodiversity Species composition (zooplankton, phytoplankton, benthos, fish, seagrass)limitedY Population abundance & biomasslimitedY Non-indigenous speciesY*Y

MONINFO project RIP ( ) Regional Information Platform data needs: Operational data on SST and Chl-a; Operational forecast of T, S, Sea level and sea currents; Operational data on vessels traffic; Operational data on oil spillage; Oil spill propagation modeling.

Near-term tasks in monitoring Harmonization of monitoring programs conducted by countries to meet requirements of new LBS protocol and SAP Standartization of sampling and sample analysis techniques Improving of QA/QC Ensuring sustainability of monitoring programs in the countries

Ongoing and planned informational activities Loading of the BSIMAP and other relevant data into BSIS for further utilization in SoE reports; Development of Regional Pollution Database Development of RIP for monitoring oil pollution Integration of BSC PS datasets with the Black Sea Scene and SeaDataNet informational networks; Integration of the BSC PS datasets in the Spatial Data Infrastructure of enviroGRIDS project;

Coordination / cooperation with ODIN Black Sea Enabling access to each-other’s web data services, including access to real time data if any (e.g. buoys data); ODIN: to help BSC with covering data gaps, particularly for purposes of SoE reporting; Informing on and coordinating ongoing activities; Set up and sustain data flow from ODIN  BSIS ???

Thank you for your attention