Executive summary

Abstract

Transitional waters have the ecological peculiarity of being both very fragile and resilient at the same time. The degradation of the transitional waters and the decline of their economic value arise from the excessive use of the resources, external input of pollutants mostly brought by large tributaries and from the mismanagement of the adjacent areas. The EU Water Framework Directive has accelerated the transboundary co-operation and development of spatially integrative management approaches in the south Baltic transitional waters. A high-level political committment in countries sharing a transitional water body, a professional agency, a stakeholders‘ forum and regular funding is the key to successful transboundary management of transitional waters.