Summary/History
The Finnish lies on the North East of the Baltic Sea and includes a number of key archipelagos. A unique and important area the Baltic Sea is the largest brackish water system in the world with marked salinity gradients so that there are areas cohabited by freshwater, brackish water and marine species. The area around Finland is brackish and eutrophic lacking many truly pelagic seabirds, although priority trigger species include the Black Guillemot (LC), Caspian Tern (LC) and Common Merganser (LC). The waters around Finland also support rarer species such as the Long-tailed Duck (VU) and Steller's Eider (VU). No special marine IBA project has been carried out in Finland (with proper gap analyses) however most breeding sites of seabird species are covered by the existing IBA network. Finnish marine IBAs contain 25-50% of the EU population of breeding Caspian Tern (LC), Artic Tern (LC) and Black Guillemot (LC). Other important species include the Velvet Scoter (EN), Eider (LC), Red-breasted Merganser (LC) and the Common Gull (LC). Offshore areas with shallow waters less than 25metres deep are under-represented in the Finnish marine IBA network and so far haven't been effectively monitored however they are potentially very important sites for staging seaducks with an artic breeding range, especially the Long-tailed Duck (VU). They may also be important feeding areas for birds such as the Razorbill (LC) and Lesser Black-backed Gull whose foraging behaviour is thus far poorly known
The main threats for Finnish seabirds include:
o Disturbance
o Persecution
o Invasive species
o Oil pollution

National priorities
o Revision and evaluation of existing IBAs and look for potential new IBAs in offshore areas.
o Conduct more field surveys, especially outside of the winter period
o Achieve support from government organisations to help fund expensive field studies in remote staging and feeding areas

Government's support/relevant policy
in Denmark historically many archipelagos have received protection and the total area of designated marine IBAs, as well as SPAs, is relatively extensive compared with the total size of the EEZ (8 %, mostly shallow waters) or even more compared with the surface suitable for marine birds representativeness. However the BirdLife Finland field surveys to recognise potential SPAs have not been extensive enough and call for increased government investment into data gathering and analysis. Please see policy tab for list of agreements that this country is party to.

References
o Ellermaa, M. 2008: IBA-vuosi 2007. - Linnut-vuosikirja 2007:140:144. (http://www.birdlife.fi/suojelu/paikat/iba/IBA-raportti-linnut-vuosikirja-2008.pdf)
o Heath, M.F. & Evans, M. I. (ed.) 2000: Important Bird Areas in Europe. Priority sites for conservation