Use constraints: Data can be used freely given that the source is cited (following creative commons license CC-BY). The source should be cited as: “HELCOM HOLAS 3 Dataset (2023)"

Following the HOLAS 3 data call, breeding bird data of 30 species for the years 1991-2021 were supplied by authorities from Contracting Parties of HELCOM, except Russia and Lithuania.

Link to core indicator metadata: https://metadata.helcom.fi/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/7aaf9c75-7c26-465c-989f-494fbebf1c7d

National remarks:

Estonia: The history of this monitoring project dates back to 1910, when first breeding bird counts were made on Vaika islets, Vilsandi national park. Next annual count scheme started in 1957 in selected island-systems in Moonsund, Matsalu National Park area. In 2008, the monitoring program was included in the national environmental monitoring program and covered most of the important islets. In 2014, the sampling scheme was under revision with the aim to maximize spatial coverage and include all potential islets that could have seabirds breeding on them. In last decade, approx. 200-250 islets are surveyed annually. For the moment 56 islet-systems are under monitoring, having a total of 572 islets.

Method: https://kese.envir.ee/kese/viewProgramNew.action?uid=473587

Program description and annual reports: https://keskkonnaagentuur.ee/media/2011/download

For offshore data, aerial survey data of seabirds since 1990 was done. Since 2021 we use distance sampling methodology.

Germany: Number of breeding birds in the nature reserves at the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein.

Volunteers of different NGOs surveyed breeding waterbirds in the nature reserves at the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The data quality differs among the species. Especially for geese, ducks, sawbills and shelducks there are methodological problems in counting “breeding pairs”, and the dataset is therefore inhomogeneous (breeding-pairs or only families were counted).

National data provider:

Estonian Environmental Agency

Ministerium für Klimaschutz, Landwirtschaft, ländliche Räume und Umwelt Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

EGVP (Governikus) LLUR-SH Flintbek Poststelle

Aarhus University on behalf of the¨Danish Ministry of Environment

The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS / OTOP BirdLife Poland