RECOCA will provide scientific outputs that facilitate the implementation of ecosystem-based environmental management of the Baltic Sea, since most management decisions combating eutrophication have to be carried out in the catchment area of the Baltic Sea. To manage remedial actions involving 85 million people in a dozen countries spanning over 105 major watersheds analysis and modelling tools are necessary, which can address the full scope and the various spatiotemporal scales of the problem.
The overall objective of RECOCA is to
(i) simulate possible future riverine nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea
(ii) estimate cost functions for reductions in these loads and for improvements in ecological indicators and
(iii) suggest cost allocation schemes for riparian countries.
1. Project Management (Dissemination in NEST)
2. Common Database
3. Farm scale model
4. River basin model
5. Baltic Sea catchment model
6. Effectiveness of measures
7. Regional cost minimization model
8. Baltic-wide cost minimization model
9. Country allocation scheme
RECOCA will significantly contribute to improve the NEST decision support system. Besides the five model components (atmospheric deposition, drainage basins, marine biogeochemistry, fishery management and cost optimization for nutrient reduction measures), NEST contains also huge environmental databases addressing the marine and catchment part of the Baltic Sea that gives the model results a wide creditability when properly displayed.