Coastal zones in the European Union are regarded as ecological entities, which encompass catchment areas of several different river basins. Moreover, management of water basins at the European level is governed by the Water Framework Directive. It is common however that appropriate management of coastal zones stimulates integration of many sectoral interests, which is manifested by international cooperation. Because of that, coordination of different practices, defined in the international agreements, with requirements and initiatives of the European Directive needs to be achieved in order to integrate coastal areas. The HARBASINS project was set up to combine the two approaches, i.e. the EU?s river basin and the international coastal zones management into an optimal way for the North Sea Region.

The aim of the project is mainly to enhance the compatibility of the Water Framework Directive and international cooperation on integrated management of estuaries and costal waters in the North Sea Region. It aims at harmonisation of management strategies leading to estuarine ecosystem restoration in the river basins of the North Sea Region and exchange of knowledge and experiences in successful implementation of the Water Framework Directive between the North Sea partners involved.

Expected Outcomes

It has been recognised that sustainable management of the coastal zone is currently hampered by the fact that coastal policies have a fragmented character. The HARBASINS project expects to build a network of public authorities and scientific institutions, which will enable communication required for establishing optimum management, monitoring and assessment techniques. The project also hopes to standardise scientific parameters, e.g. a fish-based index for assessing ecosystems.

Activities

The project?s activities are undertaken within five work packages, where three of them are focused on harmonisation of management strategies with the aim to protect and improve ecological and chemical quality of coastal waters. In that case, the ?Estuarine ecosystem functioning and health? work package deals with ecological aspects, the ?Trans River Basin Pollution? compiles chemical issues, while hydro-morphological problems are central to the ?Hydro-morphological Pressures and Impacts? work package. Apart from them, there is also an integrating work package that focuses on Harmonisation River Basin Management Strategies and an overall one that contains project management and knowledge dissemination activities. All these work packages with the exception of the technical one comprise the main elements of the EU?s Water Framework Directive. In the technical work package dissemination of knowledge and participation of stakeholders forms an integral part of the project approach.

Reported Outcomes

The main aim of the project is to enhance the compatibility of the WFD focusing on river basins and international cooperation on integrated management of estuarine and coastal waters in the NSR. For this purpose harmonisation of management strategies in the NSR for estuaries and coastal waters and river basins is envisaged. The common goal is protection and improvement of the ecological and chemical quality of the water bodies. The work is structured in work packages that follow the main WFD quality requirements: Harmonisation of River Basins Management; Estuarine Ecosystem Functioning and Health; Trans River Basins Pollution; Hydro Morphological Pressures and Impacts. Data collection has been started and first draft reports have been produced. For work package 1 dealing with the harmonization of river basins strategies work has been done on an overview of the development regarding the European Water Framework Directive and Habitats/ Birds Directive. Furthermore, the revision of the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Program (TMAP) has been launched. TMAP aims to provide a scientific assessment of the status and change in the ecosystem of the Wadden Sea. The final output will include recommendations for adequate implementation of the WFD for individual river basins, together with recommendations for sound environmental management of interconnected coastal zones in the North Sea Region. The final reports will be presented in autumn 2007. Harbasins prepares a proposal for a revised monitoring program in accordance with the monitoring requirements of the relevant EC Directives (Natura 2000 and the Water Framework Directive). Rijkswaterstraat Noord Nederland has given several presentations in both the Netherlands and abroad. In particular, a contribution has been delivered to the report on the Dutch WFD-implementation strategy (that is a separate chapter on coastal waters and estuaries) and a special co-ordinator for WFD-implementation in the Dutch coastal waters and estuaries has been appointed. This co-ordinator is now a member of the HARBASINS Advisory Group. Preparation of a draft report on ecosystem functioning and habitat restoration (WP 2) has also been commenced. The work aims to improve conceptual knowledge of estuarine habitat function, particularly for fish communities, and provide an assessment of the ecological status of the key habitats across Europe. The research is being undertaken in four selected estuarine and coastal ecosystems: the Humber Estuary (UK), the Scheldt estuary (Belgium / the Netherlands), the Ems-Dollard estuary (the Netherlands) and the Weser estuary (Germany). The final reports will be presented in autumn 2007. Another draft, which is in process, deals with the development of a fish-based evaluation system. WP 3 Trans river basin pollution has made some preparations for the future field work. WP 4 hydromorphological pressures and impacts have indicated extension of work programme by planning the evaluation of Schelde, Humber and Weser estuary for comparison purposes with the Ems-Dollart estuary. There has also been some material investments, conform application the modelling software (3 DelftD3 modules) was purchased. The aim of the WP4 is to identify such areas using the application of morphodynamical models as a basis for the evaluation of comparable assessment criteria (as mentioned above). The results will be presented in autumn 2007. Contacts have also been made with the Dutch Ministry of Water Management responsible for implementation of the European Marine Strategy (EMS) in the Netherlands and a Dutch project concerning international comparison of the implementation of the Birds and Habitat Directive. The EU HARBASINS project organized a transnational workshop to discuss the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the coastal waters around the North Sea in Antwerp 5-7 June 2007. The main conclusion of this was...XXX. The HARBASINS project is well on its way and there are a lot results to share. It?s now time to interactively share the HARBASINS draft conclusions and recommendations for efficient implementation and harmonization. Therefore the transnational workshop "HARBASINS: Results on the table!" is organised in Hull, United Kingdom on the 14 - 15 November 2007. For further information, please consult the website: www.harbasins.org.