TY - JOUR

T1 - Public preferences regarding use and condition of the Baltic Sea-An international comparison informing marine policy

AU - Ahtiainen, Heini

AU - Artell, Janne

AU - Czajkowski, MikoŁaj

AU - Hasler, Berit

AU - Hasselström, Linus

AU - Hyytiäinen, Kari

AU - Meyerhoff, Jürgen

AU - Smart, James C.R.

AU - Söderqvist, Tore

AU - Zimmer, Katrin

AU - Khaleeva, Julia

AU - Rastrigina, Olga

AU - Tuhkanen, Heidi

N1 - Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the funding for the survey from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Finnish Advisory Board of Sectoral Research. We are also grateful for the support provided by the following projects/organisations: the research project Protection of the Baltic Sea: Benefits, costs and policy instruments (PROBAPS); the research alliance Integrated management of agriculture, fishery, environment and economy (IMAGE), funded by the Danish Research Council of strategic research ; and the Baltic Nest Institute (BNI) , funded by Aarhus University . The third author also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Foundation for Polish Science. The study was a subproject within the BalticSTERN research network, and we are grateful to the BalticSTERN Secretariat for support and coordination. The data collection was coordinated by Synovate Sweden. We thank Louise Martinsen, Tea Nõmmann, Ieva Oskolokaite, Daiva Semeniene, Åsa Soutukorva, Alf Vanags and Natalia Volchkova for their participation in designing the survey, and Anni Huhtala for her contribution in the survey phase and comments on the manuscript.

PY - 2013/11

Y1 - 2013/11

N2 - Marine environments and the ecosystem services they provide are threatened throughout the world. Using an extensive data set obtained from a coordinated survey across all nine littoral countries, this study examines the recreational use of and public perceptions towards the Baltic Sea, providing support for marine policies, including the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The findings indicate that the Baltic Sea is an important recreation area for residents of the littoral states, as the majority of people spend leisure time there. Swedes, Danes and Finns use the sea the most, and the most common activities are beach recreation and swimming. People are concerned over the state of the Baltic Sea, especially in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Poles, Danes and Finns have the most positive attitude towards contributing financially to improving the state of the Baltic Sea. Additional coordinated research efforts across all nine littoral countries are needed to quantify the monetary benefits of improving the state of the sea. However, even the present results provide evidence on the cultural importance of the Baltic Sea, suggesting that policy makers need to take stronger action to sustain the provision of recreational ecosystem services and safeguarding the well-being of marine ecosystems to the current and future generations.

AB - Marine environments and the ecosystem services they provide are threatened throughout the world. Using an extensive data set obtained from a coordinated survey across all nine littoral countries, this study examines the recreational use of and public perceptions towards the Baltic Sea, providing support for marine policies, including the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The findings indicate that the Baltic Sea is an important recreation area for residents of the littoral states, as the majority of people spend leisure time there. Swedes, Danes and Finns use the sea the most, and the most common activities are beach recreation and swimming. People are concerned over the state of the Baltic Sea, especially in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Poles, Danes and Finns have the most positive attitude towards contributing financially to improving the state of the Baltic Sea. Additional coordinated research efforts across all nine littoral countries are needed to quantify the monetary benefits of improving the state of the sea. However, even the present results provide evidence on the cultural importance of the Baltic Sea, suggesting that policy makers need to take stronger action to sustain the provision of recreational ecosystem services and safeguarding the well-being of marine ecosystems to the current and future generations.

KW - EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive

KW - Recreation

KW - Social preferences

KW - The Baltic Sea

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874565274&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.01.011

DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.01.011

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84874565274

VL - 42

SP - 20

EP - 30

JO - Marine Policy

JF - Marine Policy

SN - 0308-597X

ER -