Demonstration Watersheds and Agri-Environmental Legislation and Policy in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Content

Demonstration watershed approach
Objectives
Project organization
Management
Activities and results
Demonstration watersheds
Demonstration farms

Graisupis Demonstration Watershed
Graisupis Demonstration Farm
Vardas Demonstration Watershed
Vardas Demonstration Farm
Water Monitoring
Nutrient Management
Demonstration Trials
Technical Assistance

Agri-Evnironmental Legislation and Policy
Dissemination of Information
Co-operation

 

Demonstration watershed approach (to top)

The purpose of establishing a demonstration watershed is to show for farmers in a whole region how running the farms according to actual legislation, regulations and the GAP, influences the farmer's situation and the environmental impact. The demonstration watershed model implies that measures to decrease the environmental impact from agriculture will be implemented on all farms in a small watershed. Important for the watershed model is that the run-off from the watershed is monitored, analyzed and compared to the measures taken.
The measures and activities carried out in a demonstration watershed are mainly forced on the farmers. The farmers must, therefore, be paid for the additional work and extra commitments to support the demonstration activities. Responsible experts for running the demonstration watershed must also be externally paid.

The Organization and management of a demonstration watershed give possibilities to control that requested measures and activities are demonstrated.

 

Objectives (to top)

The project focuses on demonstration, education and information activities towards farmers inside and outside the watershed. These activities include transfer of Good Agricultural Practice, GAP, knowledge and technology, in a wide sense of farm management, monitoring and legislation to reduce pollution associated with run-off and ammonia emission from agriculture. The facilities and results achieved will be and have been used in the BAAP project concerning "Information, Education and Extension in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania" carried out by LRF the Federation of Swedish Farmers. The following activities are included in the BEAROP programme:

Project organisation (to top)

A Scientific Advisory Board governs the entire project. Members of this board are consultants, representatives from teams of experts and other experts with special competence. This level also includes an Accounting Service for the entire project.
The executive level consists of one project manager in Sweden and one deputy project manager for each participating country. The project manager has the overall responsibility for the entire project and is the leader of the Swedish team of experts.
The deputy project manager is responsible for the running of the project in his country and also the leader of the domestic team of experts. The Swedish and domestic teams have the same set-up of experts.
Material and data have been transferred directly between the experts without passing the project managers. The managers are supervisors, who promote co-operation between all experts working in the project, they allocate and distribute the resources, and guarantee the quality of the work, and they are also responsible for the delivery and quality of required reports.

 

Management (to top)

ESTONIA
Tallinn Technical University;
Institute of Environmental Engineering, TTU ;
Tartu Agricultural University, TAU;
Estonian Institute of Agricultural Engineering, EIAE;
Ministry of Environment, EME;
Ministry of Agriculture, ENIA .
 
LATVIA
Latvia University of Agriculture, LLU;
Ministry of Agriculture, LNIA;
Ministry of Environment and Regional Development, LME .
 
LITHUANIA
Lithuanian Institute of Water Management, LIWM;
Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture, LIA;
Ministry of Agriculture, LIMA ;
Ministry of Environmental Protection, LIEP .

Activities and Results (to top)

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

The project started in September 1994 with a kick-off seminar at Ekenas in Sweden. All actors in the project took part and were given their tasks and detailed programmes for each country were confirmed. Supported by the Swedish managers the activities started to run at an increasing speed. The managers in the three Baltic countries were well aware of the objectives and together with their team of experts they found different ways to reach it.

The domestic team of experts has been educated and supported with updated material in their area of interest at countrywide meetings, at annual joint meetings with experts from all participating countries and during visits in Sweden. A wrap-up seminar took place in Latvia in October 1997. All experts in the BEAROP and LRF teams and the representative from the County Forestry Board of Ostergotland participated. In the seminar, results and experiences achieved in the project were presented and discussed. The farmers in the watersheds have been educated and informed both by the domestic and Swedish team of experts during farm visits, seminars and workshops.

During the three years Demonstration Watersheds have been established in all three countries. Water monitoring stations and demonstration field plot trials have been implemented and are running since 1998. Nutrient management including manure handling has been one of the main issues for the project. In each watershed nutrient balances have been carried out on farms and for the entire watershed. During the process of making the balances, individual education of farmers in nutrient management has been considered important. Education and demonstrations in manure handling, including legislative measures, construction of manure storages facilities and implementation of good spreading techniques for solid manure, slurry and urine have been intensive.

The Demonstration watersheds have also been used by another BAAP project carried out by the Federation of Swedish Farmers in co-operation with the Farmers Union and Advisory Service Organizations in each country. The number of visitors to the watersheds are increasing. The visitors are farmers from outside the watersheds, pupils from different school, students at universities, local authorities and representatives from Ministries.

 

Demonstration watersheds (to top)

 

 The demonstration watersheds implemented in each country can be described as follows:

Demonstration farms (to top)

Estonia, Kabala Demonstration Watershed (to top)

The demonstration watershed in Estonia is located in Arkma village in central Estonia, 25 km south of Turi town, at Tallinn-Viljandi road, 120 km from Tallinn. There are several agricultural colleges in the vicinity of the demonstration watershed such as: Siirevere Agricultural College 21 km, Olustvere Agricultural College 16 km, Poltsamaa Agricultural College 30 km, Janeda Agricultural College 86 km and Tartu Agricultural University 90 km. A more detailed description is found in the final report for each country.

Estonia, Mao Demonstration Farm (to top)

Lithuania, Graisupis Demonstration Watershed

(to top)

The Graisupis demonstration watershed is situated in a typical plain agricultural area. The watershed is located in the Kedainiai region in the centre of Lithuania. A more detailed description is found in the final reports for Lithuania.

  

Lithuania, Graisupis Demonstration Farm (to top)

 

The farm belonging to V. Liutkevicius was selected for demonstration activities. The owner and his son works on the farm. The farm is a combined grain and animal production unit. When the project started a new cattle barn was constructed but no manure storage facilities. The farmer plans to specialize in milk production. The soils (in the farm) are soddy-gleyey and sandy loam.

The advantages of this farm is a central position in the demonstration watershed, close to the main road and with the monitoring station in the main stream on the farm. The farm has open drainage ditches and tile drainage systems.
The project has supported the farmer to build a solid manure pit and a urine
tank. The storage capacity of the manure and urine is constructed for 8 months storage period, according to proposed legislation.

Lithuania Demonstration Watershed Vardas (to top)

The Vardas demonstration watershed is situated in a hilly agricultural area.
The watershed is located in the Ukmerge region in the eastern part of Lithuania. A more detailed description is found in the final reports for Lithuania.

 

 
Lithuania, Vardas Demonstration Farm (to top)

The farm belonging to D. Potockiene was selected for demonstration activities.
The owners, man and wife, work on the farm. The farm is typical for farms in hilly areas with soils with low fertility. It is a combined grain and animal production unit. The farmer plans to specialize in milk production. When the project started a new cattle barn was planned (to be constructed). When dwelling house was seriously damaged by a flash of lightning, the farmer had to put his money to restore it so the construction of the barn was delayed.
The project had planned to support the farmer to build a solid manure pit and a urine tank, but as the farmer did not build the barn, the solid manure pit and the urine tank was built on a neighboring farm. The storage capacity of the manure and urine is for 8 months storage period, according to proposed legislation.

Water Monitoring (to top)

 

To make it possible to follow changes in water quality following the successive implementation of Good Agricultural Practice in a watershed, a monitoring programme is of outmost importance. Some changed practices lead to immediate changes in water quality whilst others have a long-term response to water quality with only marginal changes from year to year. There might also be big differences from watershed to watershed as a result of the level of interaction between surface water and ground water. Thus, in a watershed with big ground water reservoirs actual changes in the quality of the infiltrating water can be masked by a large contribution of older groundwater to the run-off water. The time scale for sufficient improvement of run-off water quality might accordingly differ a lot from one watershed to another. The only way to follow the actual water quality improvement is through a water quality monitoring network, which also improves our understanding of the complex interaction between surface water and groundwater.
As a first step the BEAROP programme has focused on the establishment of water quality monitoring stations of a high standard. Since the monitoring stations in the programme are quite new, any trend analyses cannot be done, but some information of the actual results is of course of interest in this context, since this is the first time we have access to such figures from Lithuania. Below follows a presentation of some results.

 

NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT (to top)

 

Farmers in the Baltic states have today a very poor economy and lack sufficient means to invest even in the most basic production means. It is for them essential to utilize the resources on the farm, since few others are available. Historically animal manure was regarded as a waste and when it was applied it was disregarded as a plant nutrient resource. Phosphorus, P, was applied way above actual crop need. This resulted in a build-up of 500 to 1000 kg of P per hectare. A similar build-up of nitrogen has also taken place as a result of the high share of grasslands in farming. Grasslands result in an increase in soil organic matter where nitrogen is tied until the grassland is ploughed and a degradation of soil organic matter takes place.

Plant nutrient management and balance

A plant nutrient balance on field, farm and watershed level will give an idea of how the plant nutrients are utilized. Soil mapping followed by nutrient balances of the field give the farmer a good description of how plant nutrients are used and how the nutrient supplies in the soil are maintained.
It is Good Agricultural Practice to utilize the resources on the farm and it is also reducing the negative impact on the air and water bodies. Plant nutrients in the wrong place and at the wrong time are always an environmental hazard. By making plant nutrient balances, comparing nutrients coming and leaving the area it is possible to show the effect of different management. The accuracy in plant nutrient balances carried out in a watershed where the water leaving the watershed is monitored is high and gives a good explanation of changes in utilization and losses.
In the project plant nutrient balances have been made on field, farm and demonstration watershed level. In table 1 and 2 the plant nutrient balances in the demonstration watersheds in Estonia and Latvia and plant nutrient balances on the two demonstration farms in Lithuania in 1996 are reported.
Plant nutrient balances on the demonstration watersheds in Estonia and Latvia are still positive after a dramatic reduction of fertilizer input during the last years. The farming will be sustainable in the long run if production is not increased drastically. Good Agricultural Practice will make it possible to increase yields on the same plant nutrient status by improved manure handling and application strategy. Improved management and suitable mechanization in Machine Rings will further increase yields and the farmers' economy. In Lithuania the demonstration farm Graisupis can reduce the input of phosphorus by 12 kg/ha as the soil is rich to moderately rich in phosphorus. The farmer must, however, be aware of that he is depleting the supply of nitrogen in the soil in the long run. His best remedy is, however, to try to reduce the nitrate leakage. On the demonstration farm in the Vardas watershed a moderate depletion of the supplies of nitrogen and phosphorus takes place. Input of more fertilizers is not the most imminent remedy.

TABLE 2. Plant nutrient balances on the two demonstration farms in Lithuania in 1996

The diffuse nitrogen loading from small catchments and drainage fields in Latvia was compared with several variables such as area of arable land and soil surface nitrogen balance. Phosphorus loads are hard to predict, as phosphorus run-off is related both to the soil phosphorus status and occasional surface run-off and erosion events. The percentage of the land used for agriculture and, especially, the acreage of the arable crops (% fields) seems to be the most important variable explaining variations in total nitrogen loads both in small catchments and drainage fields (Figures 1 and 2).  The significance of the percentage of arable fields is higher at the drainage field level than on catchment scale.

 Figure 1.  Nitrogen run-off in relation to area of arable crops in small catchments.

Figure 2. Nitrogen run-off in relation to area of arable crops in drainage fields.

 The data indicates that diffuse nitrogen loading per ha agricultural land has trend to increase with increasing nitrogen surplus. It should also be noted that the data presented here does not show statistically significant correlation of nitrogen run-off with nitrogen balance within catchments (Figure 3). However, during the first years of run-off monitoring (1994-1995), nutrient inputs were low in all catchments. Use of fertilizers in both the Berze and Mellupite catchments has been increasing since 1996. Nitrogen loading and nutrient balance shows less variation and better correlation at the drainage field scale (Figure 4).

Figure 3. Nitrogen run-off and nutrient balance at small catchment level.

 Figure 4. Nitrogen run-off and nutrient balance at field drainage level.

 Diffuse source agricultural pollution varies widely and is a complex function of land use, crops and fertilization, soil type, climate, topography and hydrology. It can be concluded that the area specific nutrient losses from agricultural catchments are relatively low in Latvia today, as compared to Norway or Sweden. However, there is a tendency of increased nutrient concentrations in runoff.  The nutrient load in 3 monitoring sites in Latvia generally depends on land use, crop and nutrient management. The effects of hydrological processes on nutrient losses add an additional dimension to the question of management strategies. A agricultural practices, such as crop rotation systems, nutrient inputs and soil conservation measures, are of course important for the site specific effects, although they can not explain the large regional differences that have been observed in this study.  It is the interaction between agricultural practices and the basic catchment characteristics, including the hydrological processes, which determine the total losses of nutrients to surface waters. These processes need to be understood for efficient implementation of the control measures for diffuse agricultural nutrient losses.

DEMONSTRATION TRIALS (to top)

The demonstration trials are focused on implementation and demonstration of Good Agricultural Practice. Field plot trials demonstrate the connection between plant nutrients added to the soil, plant nutrients removed by crops and plant nutrient leakage to the water bodies. The main task is to study and demonstrate the effect of an improved animal manure handling and application strategy. Demonstration field plot trials have been implemented in all demonstration watersheds on the demonstration farms.

The plots are fertilized with animal manure and commercial fertilizers in the spring and autumn. Application rates are related to maximum animal density, some 20 to 30 tones per hectare of solid manure and slurry. Urine is added to plots applied with solid manure at a maximum rate of 10 to 15 tones per hectare. Some plots are only treated with commercial fertilizers. Crops grown in the demonstration trials follow a crop rotation schedule adapted to the demonstration farm production and Good Agricultural Practice.

Before sowing and fertilizing the soil in spring each plot is sampled and analyzed for pH, nitrate nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen content and easily soluble content of phosphorus and potassium. In a plots nutrients added in spring and autumn are registered to amount and application time. The development of the crops is followed during the vegetation period. At harvest time all plots are harvested and measured for weight, dry matter content, quality measures and the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. A balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is made yearly for each treatment. Later a balance of nutrients for the whole crop rotation will be made. During the whole year temperature and precipitation is measured and recorded.

In the demonstration plots in Estonia, suction cups are used since much of the drainage water percolates past any drainage pipes straight into the groundwater. On the demonstration farm the rock bottom below the soil is limestone and full of cracks leading the water downwards. Suction cups are used to take samples for analyses of the soil water.

In Latvia the plots are separately drained to an automatic measuring device, tipping buckets, measuring the flow of drainage water from the demonstration trial plots. The drainage water is automatically sampled for water analyses.

In the Graisupis watershed in Lithuania, the field plot trials demonstrate the effect of soil supply of and added phosphorus. The field plot trials in the hilly Vardas watershed demonstrate how different treatments influence the surface run-off of nutrients.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (to top)

Manure handling technique is a very important task to reduce losses and improve utilization of the nutrients in manure and urine. The BEAROP activities, therefore, includes technical improvements of manure handling systems. Indoor handling systems in barns, however, are not included in the project. In co-operation Swedish and domestic technical managers planned the programme for education and improvement of manure handling systems at the farms in the demonstration watersheds. According to plans each farmer, constructing manure storage facilities, was supported with USD 1000 to cover cost for material.

Detailed drawing and technical specifications of manure storages were presented for two to three selected farms in each watershed. Due to the farmers poor economy and the uncertain situation for agriculture in the Baltic countries no farmers were able to invest in manure storages. During the planning phase we also learned, that newly established family farmers had poor knowledge in high quality concrete construction works used for manure storages. In order to demonstrate well functioning manure storage facilities it was decided to speed up the work to construct manure storages, construction firms, therefore, local contractors were asked to send in tenders. Some of these tenders had unreasonable high costs. In one case the tender was discussed with the local municipal administration resulting in a reasonable cost for construction.

The general impression from constructing manure storages is that the specific knowledge in such construction is insufficient and also that costs for these constructions are unreasonably high. The high cost for construction makes it nearly impossible for newly established farmers to invest in manure storage facilities according to the rules proposed in a coming environmental legislation. Low cost constructions are necessary. The quality requirements for slurry and urine pits are, however, very high which makes it difficult to find low cost alternatives. The quality requirements makes it difficult for farmers to construct such facilities on their own. For solid manure pits, however, low cost constructions are possible and give the farmers (to a high) extent possibilities to construct solid manure pads of their own.
Spreaders with accuracy in application rate and evenness in spreading are pre-requisites for good utilization of and low losses from manure, slurry and urine. Spreaders for solid manure, slurry and urine are supported by BEAROP in each Demonstration Watershed. These spreaders are used for demonstration activities, field plot trials and by all farmers in the watershed. These machines are the base for building up a Machine Ring for the farmers in the Demonstration Watersheds. The demonstration farmer or another farmer in the Demonstration Watershed with good technical experience is responsible for administration and maintenance of the spreaders. Special agreements about running the Machine Ring have been worked out to control the multi-farm use of spreaders.
Early in the project existing former Russian manure spreaders were investigated and found not good enough to secure a good utilization. Spreaders with good performance, therefore, were purchased from abroad. The solid manure spreaders supported by BEAROP are from JF, model AV 4000H with a vertical beater bar, a hydraulic rear door, a front grill and high sides, delivered to each Demonstration Watershed. One spreader suitable for both slurry and urine is also supported to each Demonstration Watershed by BEAROP. A Swedish spreading boom with trailing hoses and 9 m working width has been attached to a Russian manufactured tanker equipped with a centrifugal pump. Creating a well functioning spreader for slurry and urine by attaching the boom to the tanker including hydraulic connections caused much advanced engineering work. These spreaders turned out to be milestones for a new generation of spreaders in each country. The spreaders were investigated and tested by technical institutes in each country. The test results showed much better results for these spreaders than for the existing domestic spreaders. The new spreaders have been demonstrated many times in each country and much work has been done to disseminate the results to farmer advisors and administrators.

AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AND POLICY (to top)

The need of environmental legislation in the Baltic countries as well as in Sweden and the development of such legislation in Sweden, has been the initial input. It has been important to explain how Swedish legislation has developed parallel to developing proper plant nutrient utilization, and at the same time reducing losses of plant nutrients and protecting the environment.
The number of animals allowed per spreading area of arable fields, which is also called animal density, depends on the amount of phosphorus in manure, slurry and urine. The amount should approximately be 20-23 kg per hectare, as that is a normal crop requirement. Manure storage is also an important issue as it protects the groundwater on the farm and the immediate surroundings to animal housing from pollution. Storage facilities also make spreading of manure possible, when the crops need nutrients and do not force spreading during unsuitable time periods. As there is a shortage of fertilizer and also of cash to purchase fertilizer, it is very important that the best use possible is made of the nutrients in animal manure. At the same time the transition to family farming makes it necessary to improve crop management and also to educate the farmers. Good Agricultural Practice, GAP, must be developed for the Baltic countries and manure handling and spreading, as well as soil tillage and crop management are important aspects. Legislation regarding the spreading of manure as well as storage of manure to achieve the best possible usage of plant nutrients in manure are also included in the project.
In this project environmental legislation was to be applied necessarily within the watershed. As all three countries are in the middle of a major transition of their agriculture to family farms, the present is a one-time chance for these countries not to have to repeat some of the environmental mistakes of the western world. Especially animal density can easily be controlled if suitable legislation exists from the start. In most western countries there are large problems with conglomerations of great animal density in parts of the country. This is one of the reasons Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have decided to enforce such legislation, not only within the watershed, but also within the entire country. Another reason could also be that the countries are all in the process of replacing their old legislation with new national legislation.
Seminars have been held in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and legislation has been an important part of them. There has also been an annual meeting in Vesauce, Latvia for all three countries in February 1996. Contacts have been taken at all levels, but especially important and crucial to this project has been the contacts with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment in all three countries. The positive attitude and genuine interest in agricultural environmental aspects that has dominated the project, at the same time as we have developed new working strategies between different groups in each respective country, has a large part in our coming so far in the area of legislation in this project. There has also been great interest in how Sweden's membership in the European Union has affected this area, especially the environmental subsidy programme and agriculture in general. The EU directives that are of interest, such as the nitrate directive, the protection of the environment directive, the sewage sludge directive and the directive on organic production, have been distributed and discussed.
Estonia has already included animal density in their legislation, as well as regulations on manure storage and manure spreading. The next step for Estonia is to create an understanding for this legislation on the farm level and also, partially through extension service, improve Good Agricultural Practice and crop management.
Latvia and Lithuania are both in the process of preparing legislation in this area. At the annual meeting in Vecause, both countries discussed how far they had come respectively and what their future plans were. During 1997 the Lithuanian BEAROP team has elaborated and presented a draft to their new agricultural/environmental legislation for a national basis. The draft has been subject to some work within BEAROP and has been discussed. They are now in the process of finalizing their legislation.

Law on Pollution (transposition of EU IPPC directive) was accepted in Parliament of Latvia in 15 March 2001 and with some exceptions (few articles) entered in force on 1 July 2001.  According to the Law on Pollution Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development is responsible for the Regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers (CoM) on the “Protection of Water and Soil from Pollution Caused by Nitrates from Agricultural Sources”.

Regulation No 531 on the “Protection of Water and Soil from Pollution Caused by Nitrates from Agricultural Sources” (transposition of EU Nitrate directive) was prepared and discussed between stakeholders and NGO’s in 2001. Regulation on Nitrates was accepted in 18 December 2001 and entered in force on 29 December 2001. BEAROP Latvia team members were involved in preparation of that regulation.

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (to top)

Since the project started in 1994 there has been 5 to 7 seminars a year with the farmers in the demonstration watersheds in each country in co-operation with LRF and national advisory services. People from the local agricultural administration, local authorities and people involved in the LRF project have also participated in these seminars. Material from these seminars has been published in local newspapers. Information material in native languages produced in co-operation with LRF has been distributed at the seminars.
Demonstration watersheds have also been used for information seminars for participants from different local and international workshops, study visits by students from universities and other educational institutions, individual advisory service of farmers, etc. Representatives of different institutions from several other countries, like Norway, Sweden and Russia have visited demonstration watersheds . Field days have been held yearly since 1996 in the demonstration watersheds in all three countries.
In Estonia and Latvia, visitors from many countries and local people have had the opportunity to study  a new type of weir for the area, the Crump weir. This has never been constructed before in the Baltic states. In the building up phase of the demonstration watersheds, and even more since they have started to run, scientific activities have been included. The levels of activities range from doctoral studies, masters thesis and scientific publications, domestically and abroad. Many of the results so far produced have been reported at international seminars and conferences.
Results from activities in the demonstration watersheds are beginning to form a background for environmental legislation in all three countries.
AU BEAROP experts together with one representative from the LRF project staff in Latvia, altogether 27 persons, participated in the BEAROP Annual Seminar. In 1996, this seminar took place in Vecause, Latvia, on February 5-8. During this seminar results compiled within the project during the first year were presented and discussed. The programme also included elaboration and confirmation of the work-programme for the next period.
The monitoring in the demonstration watersheds is the basis for agricultural run- off measurements and evaluation. In Estonia and Latvia, the monitoring in the water- sheds is proposed to become part of the national monitoring system. In Lithuania, the monitoring in the Graisupis demonstration watershed is already part of the national monitoring system.

CO-OPERATION (to top)

Within BAAP Programme
The BEAROP team of experts and the LRF team have had eight meetings to discuss co-operation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The extension specialists educated by LRF today are and will also in the future be using the demonstration watersheds for practical demonstrations and education of farmers.
The education of extension service agents is run with teachers from LRF and JTI. The study material derives from the Swedish Board of Agriculture (legislation), JTI (technical descriptions of manure spreaders and storage) and SLU (plant nutrient management, water management, cheap housing and good Agricultural Management in general).
Demonstration facilities in the watersheds will be used for special information and education activities for extension specialists, concerned staff of universities and institutes as well as neighboring farmers and agricultural schools. These activities are running.
The BEAROP watersheds, Graisupis and Vardas in Lithuania, are also used by the BAAP project run by the County Forestry Board of Ostergotland, Sweden. Buffer strips of birch trees are established at the Graisupis and Vardas rivers. On the Vardas river, a willow plantation is also established to monitor the influence of other plant species on water quality with water monitoring programme and installations.

Other similar projects
In Latvia the project manager Goran Carlson is associated to a reference group at the Ministry of Environment concerning agricultural projects. The BEAROP team also co-operates with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, SNV, on biological diversity. The Estonian and Latvian BEAROP teams co-operate with Jordforsk, Norway, in a Gulf of Riga Project, subproject B: "Soil and Nutrient losses from small catchments". An agreement of co-operation between SLU/JTI and Jordforsk to co-ordinate plans and activities was signed using possibilities of both BEAROP and Jordforsk projects network of monitoring stations for agricultural run-off monitoring in Latvia. The network will cover regions with climatic diversities, different land use, soils, slopes and different agricultural situations. The results of the first two years of water monitoring in the three sites are presented in the Second Interim Report.
BEAROP team members in all four countries are involved in HELCOM work concerning agriculture. One of the Swedish team members, Christine Jakobsson, is assisting the Estonian government in preparing the Estonian Code of Good Agricultural Practice. In Lithuania the BEAROP group exchange information with United States Environmental Protection Agency, USEPA, region 7, as the deputy project manager also participates in projects run by USEPA.

Environmental Monitoring in Agriculture. A Nordic/Baltic cooperative should be mentioned (1997-1999). The project established a Nordic/Baltic network of the environmental monitoring in agriculture.