Mattson speech at 29 BSPC

29 BSPCYEARSBaltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceSECOND SESSIONVision 2030: Safeguarding our Environment,Seas and Oceans for Future GenerationsMs. Liz MattssonMP ÅlandHonored delegates,The Åland Island is located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, it is surrounded by the ocean. It isvery important in all our industries to think about how we can protect the environment, seasand oceans for the future. During the summer, when the weather is hot, we can find blue-greenalgae along the beaches here. A sign of eutrophication. How we all can work together with theseenvironmental challenges is a very important subject to focus on.I have been working with agriculture and rural development here in Åland and therefore todayI chose to focus on sustainability agriculture. For Åland, the food industry is significant. Of ourtotal 30,000 inhabitants, about 600 are farmers. We have a rich agricultural landscape and awell-developed food industry and small-scale production. Therefore, I also think Åland could bea good place for pilot projects in sustainability food production. Already today, several projectsare on the run with a focus on circular systems, construction of wetlands, sedimentation basinsand IPM (integrated pest management). I want to give you some concrete examples:A large amount of the substances that cause eutrophication are transported along the ditchesto the Baltic Sea. Farmers on Åland have therefore in recent years built several wetlands andsedimentation basins with the main purpose of capturing nutrients from fields before they flowinto the sea. The wetlands reduce the amount of nutrients that are stream out from the fieldsand at the same time they store water until dry years. The wetlands also beautify the landscapeand serve as excellent habitats for many different species. The sedimentation basins capture soilmaterial containing nutrients that are released from the fields. The soil material sinks to thebottom of the basin instead of traveling further in the ditches out into the Baltic Sea.Some of our farmers have also tried to recycle nutrients from the Baltic Sea by collectingbladderwrack that is washed up on the beaches. The bladderwrack acts as a good means of soilimprovement and provides an environmentally friendly nutrient supplement to the fields.Many of our growers also work according to something we called Integrated Pest Management.In the fight against pests and diseases, we apply preventive measures. For example, we usesomething we call Pheromone trap. The traps hang under the summer season in the applegardens around the Island (around 50-60 gardens). With a pheromone (odorants) they attractdifferent insects. The traps are checked two times in the week under the growing season. Reportsare then based on catches of pests. The reports give us an indication if the trees must be sprayedor not and an individual assessment is made for each apple garden. With this kind of method,the use of plant protection in apples gardens around the island reduces.We produce around 80 % of the total production of apples in Finland here in Åland, and thevalue for the production is high. The insects are our most important workers in the cultivationsof apples. A keyfactor for a good harvest is a successful pollination of the appleflowers inconnection with bumblebees and bees. Varoa is a common disease in bees, caused by Varoa-mite.The mite has caused large loss of important bees in Europe and the USA. Europe has calculated alack of 1 million colonies much due to the Varroa mite. Varroa spread through the movement ofbee fry and direct contact between infested bees. Åland is unique in that the bees are Varoa free,it means our bees do not suffer from the disease. To keep Åland free from Varoa, from 2013 westar a total stop to importing bees. That is now a reason that we have a prosperous society of beesand today the beekeepers see a possibility to trade commercials with bees to other countries. Forexample, we have delivered bees from Åland to Iceland.The Åland family farms are generally small-scale and take great care of the environment. Behindeach product, there are people who want to produce the best food as possible and contributeto sustainable food production. Biodiversity and climate-smart farming methods are the keyelements in sustainable food production. I really look forward to further discussions with theworking group on Biodiversity and I am sure that we have a lot of good ideas and experiences toexchange. Biodiversity is an extremely important subject globally as well as locally and togetherwe still have a lot of work to do.Thank you.