NUTRIENT REDUCTIONS TO THE BALTIC SEA - ECOLOGY, COSTS AND BENEFITS

The environmental conditions of the Baltic Sea have been of concern fo r approximately the last three decades. In spite of this concern, the Sea is far from being in good ecological condition. One important reas on may be the lack of an overview of costs and benefits associated wit h the pollution reductions needed for the restoration of the Sea. The purpose of this study is to present the costs and benefits from reduct ions in the loads of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Baltic Sea. In ord er to obtain such estimates, interdisciplinary co-operation among rese archers from economics, geography, marine biology and ecology has been carried out. The preliminary outcome from this joint research effort indicates that the total benefits of a 50% reduction in the load of ni trogen and phosphorus are about as large as the associated total costs : slightly more than SKr 30 000 million per year. The estimates also i ndicate that all Baltic Sea countries except Estonia, Latvia, Lithuani a and Poland will obtain net gains from a program implementing a cost- effective allocation of measures. This program mainly involves various changes in agricultural practice, construction of sewage treatment pl ants, and wetland restoration. However, many critical assumptions unde rlie these results, which should therefore be interpreted with caution . (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.