The Helsinki Commission which groups the nine states that border the Baltic Sea was Thursday hailed for its efforts to protect the sensitive marine environment in the region, according to dpa. The Helsinki-based organization was named winner of the 2009 Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award for taking "marine environmental protection to a new level," Swedish International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson said. The coasts bordering the Baltic Sea and its catchment area are home to some 85 million people. Helcom has adopted an action plan for the Baltic Sea to be completed by 2021 and this also forms a key plank in the European Union's Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, Carlsson said. Helcom groups Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden as well as the European Union. The Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award was established in 1999. Worth 150,000 kronor (21,000 dollars) it was to be presented September 17. The award announcement was made at the ongoing World Water Week that groups over 2,000 researchers, politicians, business leaders and others. Later Thursday, Bindeshwar Pathak - founder of the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in India - was to accept the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize, worth 150,000-dollars for developing a simple twin pit, pour- flush toilet system used in India and several other countries.
