9
Months of hiking
8
Visited countries
~6000
Kilometers
Each of us, sometimes unwittingly, contributes to this unfortunate statistic. Yet, by joining hands, we can save our precious waters and the life within them for future generations.
This is the main message of our historic hike around the Baltic Sea that will take place in 2024, with a principal goal to catalyse action for reducing marine pollution in 8 Baltic Sea countries.
RAISING AWARENESS
We will set on a hike with a unique communication campaign to raise waves of change on an international level, with an aim to draw public attention to the current state of the sea and ways to contribute to its improvement.
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Together with Baltic Sea science institutes and environmental organisations, we will invite the citizens of each country to take a closer look at our sea and its issues, as well as engage in citizen science activities and cleanups.
CO-CREATING SOLUTIONS
‘Living lab’ workshops will gather local stakeholders and community representatives to search for the most suitable ways to reduce negative impacts on the Baltic Sea in each location.
The official, high-level expedition launch event will take place at Vilnius Town Hall on March 8, 2024, bringing together representatives of Save The Baltic Sea partner institutions, sponsors, and ambassadors from Lithuania.
Hi, I’m Ieva. I joined the expedition in July as a volunteer Communications Coordinator. I love hiking and other active forms of spending my leisure time in nature. So I decided to join and experience the expedition’s daily routine firsthand. Time flies, and both my mind and heart struggle to keep up with the quickly […]
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I’ve been on this expedition for over two months now, and this is my first weekly article. Wow – my first time! There have been a lot of firsts for me here, so this time it’s about just that: firsts. It just so happens that when I joined the expedition, everything has turned upside down […]
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At some point during the expedition, time seemed to double its pace. When we get two days off, it feels like just one, and before we know it, we’re back to sharing our weekly blog. Yesterday, we celebrated the 200th day of our journey. Since we mark an anniversary every five days, the number itself […]
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What a week it has been. Arriving on Wednesday 4th September, I am only seven days in and have already experienced my first ‘pirtis’ (a three hour sauna session including being slapped with a ‘whisk’), hiked 40 km in one day, learned about pranayama yoga, and spoken with Finnish locals about their natural marine spaces. […]
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As I write, I’m sitting in a cafe in Helsinki mulling over what has been an intense, sweet and eventually melancholic time with the Save The Baltic Sea team. The past week was full, in every sense. Full of wonderful locals who have helped us in ways we couldn’t have imagined, of hearty vegetarian food […]
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1 pav. Nuotraukos šaltinis: AI Image Generator (deepai.org) „Mūsų visų kasdienis gyvenimas priklauso nuo biologinės įvairovės, nors tai ne visada tiesiogiai matoma ar įvertinama.“ – HELCOM, 2023 m. Ar tikrai galima apskaičiuoti tokio sudėtingo dalyko, kaip gamta, kainą? Kadangi Baltijos jūrai atėjo sunkesni laikai, vyriausybėms kaip niekad svarbu suprasti, kokią didžiulę vertę turi natūralūs jūrų […]
Read more Image: AI Image Generator (deepai.org) “We all depend on biodiversity in our daily lives in ways that are not always directly apparent or appreciated” – HELCOM, 2023 Can you really put a price-tag on something as complex as nature? As times get tougher for the Baltic Sea, it’s more important than ever for governments to […]
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This week, for the second time on our journey, we momentarily felt as though we’d reached the finish line. The first time was in Sweden, when a road sign announced that we had arrived in Pålänge. Wait, have we reached Palanga already? It took a moment to realize that, in fact, the Lithuanian seaside is still some […]
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While we frequently encounter challenges during the expedition (many of which are financial) week 25 began in an unusual way. First, we had to bid farewell to Giedrius, who returned to Lithuania temporarily, leaving Edita and me to continue the expedition together for nearly a week. Secondly, despite our normally careful and responsible nature, we […]
Read more97% of the Baltic Sea is affected by eutrophication – excessive amounts of nutrients that cause
algal blooms.
This results in the development of dead zones – lifeless areas with not enough oxygen for marine animals
to survive.
The excess nutrients reach the Baltic Sea from unsustainable agriculture, improper disposal of industrial waste, and even household waste coming from cities and villages far away from the coastline.
Source: HELCOM 2023 State of the Baltic Sea Report
Cigarette butts, plastic bags, bottle caps, ghost nets and other litter can be found in most Baltic Sea beaches.
This litter not only affects the aesthetics of our environment – it may directly harm wildlife, release toxic substances and break down into tiny pieces of microplastics that can be ingested by animals and travel along
the food chain.
Municipal waste is another important source of microplastics: microfibers released when washing synthetic clothing are among the most common types of microplastics found in the Baltic Sea.
Source: HELCOM 2023 State of the Baltic Sea Report
Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, heavy metals, and oil products are only some of the hazardous substances that reach our sea and are detrimental to the health of marine organisms. These contaminants are often slow to degrade and are accumulated by animals such as fish or seals.
Hazardous substances can enter the sea due to human activity, such as overuse of pesticides in agriculture or improper disposal of chemicals, which cannot be effectively filtered by wastewater treatment systems.
Source: HELCOM 2023 State of the Baltic Sea Report
Explore the virtual version of the art installation “The Sea Begins Here!”
