Campaigns

The UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), its specialized agreements on whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans), the Agree­ment on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Ceta­ceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) together with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) de­clared 2007 the Year of the Dolphin.

In 2002, the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (UNEP/ASCOBANS) declared the third Sunday in May of each year as the “International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise” (IDBHP) in order to raise awareness of the critical situation for populations of the Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena): the only species of cetacean native to the Baltic Sea.

In 2013, the ASCOBANS Secretariat partnered with NGOs Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), NABU and OceanCare for a competition targeting German-speaking areas.  With the theme “The Last 300”, creative minds were given the opportunity to explore through their art and design work the importance they personally gave to having these unique animals in the Baltic Sea.  Ninety-four entries were submitted and displayed on the dedicated website www.schweinswal.net wherethe public was asked to vote.