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Status of Habitats Directive Species

Five species listed in the Habitats Directive occur in the Finnish part of the Baltic Sea. These are primarily brackish water species. Two of them are vascular plants that can be found in shallow water habitats characteristic to land uplift coasts. The one beetle species, Macroplea pubipennis, also prefers shallow water in bays and inlets.

Grey and Baltic Ringed Seals, on the other hand, have large territories and often move from the waters of one country to those of another. Therefore their population can normally be estimated only by sea area, irrespective of national borders (see also BS9).

The conservation status of only one of the five species has been evaluated as favourable. The Finnish population of Grey Seal has more than trebled during the evaluation period.

The conservation status of three species - Baltic Ringed Seal, Wahlenberg's Water Plaintain and the beetle Macroplea pubipennis - was evaluated as unfavourable-inadequate. In the case of of the Ringed Seal, this is due to an unfavourable population development especially in the Gulf of Finland and Archipelago Sea. The habitats of Wahlenberg's Water Plaintain and Macroplea pubipennis are in a poor state and therefore the species' future prospects were deemed unfavourable.

The conservation status of Four-leaved Mare's Tail was evaluated as unfavourable-bad. The population development of the species is poorly known, yet its future prospects appear particularly bad because of diminishing range and the general over-growth of its habitats.