Ecologically significant marine underwater areas in Finland (EMMA)

The Ecologically significant marine underwater areas in Finland (EMMA) data presents the Finnish coast’s ecologically significant areas regardless of the areas’ current level of protection. The spatial dataset is mainly based on data about aquatic plants, macroalgae, invertebrates, Baltic Sea coastal habitats, geology, and breeding areas for fish, collected within VELMU. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the underwater natural values might not be restricted inside the EMMA boundaries, and may continue outside of those. This is especially important, if the data are used with regional planning in mind. This work was funded by the Ministry of the Environment and the Maritime spatial planning coordination group, the latter which has received funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the period 2017-2021. More information is available in the report produced in the EMMA-project: https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/312221.