Summary Under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971), each Contracting Party undertakes to designate at least one wetland site for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the “Ramsar List”). There are over 2,000 “Ramsar Sites” on the territories of over 160 Ramsar Contracting Parties across the world. For more information on the Convention, please visit the Ramsar website http://www.ramsar.org. The Ramsar Sites Information Service (RSIS) provides online information on wetlands that have been designated as internationally important. All Site information is provided by the Contracting Parties to the Convention and is managed by the Ramsar Secretariat. Responsibility for the accuracy of the data lies with the Administrative Authority of the Party in which the Ramsar Site is located. The Ramsar Secretariat provides open access to the RSIS and its data, to promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. If you are interested in an overview of the Ramsar Sites network, or are looking for information on a specific Site, please visit the Explore Sites page. You will find: a searchable database of Ramsar Sites, which holds information on the wetland types, ecology, land uses, threats, hydrological values of each Site as well as spatial information downloadable copies of Ramsar Information Sheets (RISs) for each site which have been provided by the Contracting Parties , including maps and supplementary information, Site summaries, and exportable data sets; and digital (GIS) boundaries of Sites, where available. For any further questions, comments or other inquiries about the RSIS, please contact the Ramsar Secretariat at ramsar@ramsar.org. Description This dataset displays Ramsar site polygon areas downloaded from https://rsis.ramsar.org/ in 17.2.2016. The dataset was subsetted by selecting only the sites that are withing Baltic Sea drainage area and projected to ETRS89LAEA by the HELCOM Secretariat.

Borders of territorial waters (12 nautical miles from baseline) in the Baltic Sea. It is based on a dataset by the European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/maritime-boundaries). The Russian borders and some small segments are based in OpenStreetMap. See the attribute table for details. The Swedish territorial waters file was edited in November 2019. The source was the Swedish Maritime Administration (https://www.sjofartsverket.se/sv/Maritima-Tjanster/Havsgranser/)

Summary Unesco Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Biosphere reserves in the Baltic Sea area (in 1998) and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Description Dataset contains the Unesco Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Biosphere reserves in the Baltic Sea area (in 1998). Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. They are internationally recognized, nominated by national governments and remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Biosphere reserves serve in some ways as 'living laboratories' for testing out and demonstrating integrated management of land, water and biodiversity. The source of this data set was 'Baltic Pipeline System: Environmental Impact on the Baltic Sea' by Tacis services DG IA, European Commission. The dataset has later been amended with UNESCO World Heritage Sites. See attribute table for details. For more information about marine protected areas in the Baltic Sea, see: http://www.helcom.fi/environment2/biodiv/en_GB/bspas/.

Summary Light availability in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea bottom is divided into photic (1) and non-photic (2) bottoms. Description The dataset contains information on light availability in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea bottom is divided into photic (1) and non-photic (2) bottoms (areas where 1% of available light reaches the seabed). The light availability data has been produced withing the EUSeaMap project and was reported on request to HELCOM Secretariat by DHI.

This dataset shows the western summer management border for the Baltic Proper population of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), valid for May – Oct. This dataset was produced by the EU LIFE+ funded SAMBAH project and shows a proposed western management border for the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise population during May – Oct. The division of the year into two seasons is a result of visual inspection of data and results, showing a clear separation of spatial clusters of harbour porpoises in the summer season May – Oct and a more dispersed pattern with no clear separation in Nov – Apr.

Summary The area closed for fishing has been drawn according to EC Council Regulation No 2187/2005 of 21 December 2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound. Description The area closed for fishing has been drawn according to EC Council Regulation No 2187/2005 of 21 December 2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound (amending Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 88/98). According to article 16, "it shall be prohibited throughout the year, to fish with any active gear in the geographical area enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following positions, which shall be measured according to the WGS84 coordinate system: 1. 54 23 N, 14 35 E 2. 54 21 N, 14 40 E 3. 54 17 N, 14 33 E 4. 54 07 N, 14 25 E 5. 54 10 N, 14 21 E 6. 54 14 N, 14 25 E 7. 54 17 N, 14 17 E 8. 54 24 N, 14 11 E 9. 54 27 N, 14 25 E 10. 54 23 N, 14 35 E

This map shows probability of detection of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Baltic Sea, for May – Oct. This dataset was produced by the EU LIFE+ funded SAMBAH project and maps the probability of detection of harbour porpoises in the study area, which extends from the Åland Islands in the north to the Darss and Limhamn underwater ridges in the southwest. The study area excludes areas of depths greater than 80 m. Probability of detection was modelled using General Additive Modelling and static covariates such as depth, topographic complexity, month, spatial coordinates and with time surveyed as a weight. Monthly predictions were done on a 1x1 km grid and averaged to result in seasonal distribution maps for May – Oct and Nov – Apr. This division of the year is a result of visual inspection of data and results, showing a clear separation of spatial clusters of harbour porpoises in the summer season May – Oct and a more dispersed pattern with no clear separation in Nov – Apr.

Summary Model results of the annual mean bottom current velocity (m/s). Description This dataset shows model results of the annual mean bottom current velocity (m/s). Data source, NERI/Denmark. Currents in the sea can be generated by many different parameters, among which are: I. Tidal motion II. Wind stress III. Density difference due to differences in salinity or temperature IV. Seismic activity and motion of the earth In near shore regions, the wave-induced along shore currents are the dominating currents, whereas in offshore regions, a combination of tidal and meteorological forces is the dominating current generating parameters. Near the sea bottom the friction of the current flow forms a turbulent layer, termed boundary layer, over the seabed. The thickness of this layer ranges from few meters up to several tens of meters. Within this layer the current speed increases nonlinearly with the height above the seabed, being zero at the seabed and maximum at the top of the layer. The variation of the current speed with height above the seabed is called current velocity profile.

Summary Benthic biotope complexes in the Baltic Sea, based on a combination of geological sediment data (BALANCE) and light availability data (DHI/EuSeaMap). Description The dataset was created to be used in the HELCOM Baltic Sea Impact Index (BSII). It represents benthic biotope complexes in the Baltic Sea, based on a combination of geological sediment data and light availability data. The dataset contains the following six classes: 1 = Photic sand 2 = Non-photic sand 3 = Photic mud and clay 4 = Non-photic mud and clay 5 = Photic hard bottom 6 = Non-photic hard bottom The sediment data used in this dataset has been produced within the EU Interreg IIIB project BALANCE (www.balance-eu.org). The light availability data has been produced withing the EUSeaMap project (unpublished data) and was reported on request to HELCOM Secreteriat by DHI.

Summary Model results for the distribution of where at least 1% available light touches the seabed (the photic zone) and non-photic zone in the Baltic Sea based on 1% mean annual irradiance Description This dataset shows model results forthe distribution of where at least 1% available light touches the seabed (the photic zone) and non-photic zone in the Baltic Sea based on 1% mean annual irradiance. From an ecological point of view, available light is one of the primary physical parameters influencing and structuring the biological communities in the marine environment, as it is the driving force behind the primary production by providing the energy for the photosynthesis - energy that ultimately is transferred to other organisms not capable of photosynthesis. The depth of the photic zone is traditionally defined, for benthic plants, as the depth where 1% of the surface irradiance (as measured just below the water surface) is available for photosynthesis. Only two intervals based on light regime were used in the dataset, because they reflect the significant ecological difference between the shallow water depth with the presence of submerged aquatic vegetation, and the deeper waters where fauna (and bacteria) dominate diversity of species, abundance, and biomass. The intervals are: I. The photic zone (where at least 1% of the available light touches the seabed). II. The non-photic zone.The measurements of Secchi Depth used for producing this dataset are not evenly distributed and some areas in the Baltic Proper, Gulf of Riga and southern Baltic are not well covered.