OILRISK

Title: Applications of ecological knowledge in managing oil spill risk'

Summary: Maritime traffic and oil transportation continue to rise dramatically in the Baltic Sea and especially in the Gulf of Finland. Should a large-scale oil accident occur in the area, there would be very limited time to make decisions on the mitigation actions. OILRISK is developing strategic and operational tools, for combating authorities in Estonia and Finland, to be used in oil spill contingency planning.

The aim is to strengthen the cooperation between authorities on oil spill risk management and minimise the negative impacts of future oil accidents on the nature values. Another focus is to raise the awareness of stakeholders on the effects of oil spills and on the various actions that can be taken in order to minimise the effects. Among other things, the project is developing web-based tools for integrating biological and ecological knowledge into oil-combating risk assessments and management. Substantial efforts are being made to ensure interoperability with existing and developing information systems for environmental management.

For more information, please visit EurOcean Knowledge Gate.