Marine Eutrophication in Perspective ─ On the Relevance of Ecology for Environmental Policy

Is ecological knowledge relevant to environmental policy and if so, to what extent and in what way? After a series of oxygen depletion events in coastal waters in the 1980s, North Sea states acted to reduce inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to the North Sea. The book analyzes the role of scientists and scientific information, as well as civil servants, in the formulation and implementation of these decisions.

Folkert de Jong (1951) studied biology in Groningen (NL). He has more than 20 years experience with international environmental policy-making in the North Sea area. Since 1990 he has been deputy secretary of the International Wadden Sea Secretariat in Wilhelmshaven (Germany). In this position he was responsible for the coordination of quality assessments of the international Wadden Sea ecosystem and closely involved in the elaboration of North Sea quality status reports.He now co-ordinates the activities of the trilateral Wadden Sea Forum, a platform of stakeholders from the Wadden Sea region, working on sustainable development perspectives and integrated coastal zone management.