International Black Sea Day – 31.10.2023

International Black Sea Day was declared on 31 October 1996 in Istanbul during a meeting of the environment ministers of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Its aim is to raise international awareness of the need for regional cooperation to protect the Black Sea.

The Black Sea has less biodiversity than other seas because of its low salinity, cold waters and low oxygen content due to the large amount of hydrogen sulfide. Nevertheless, it is home to nearly 3700 species of marine organisms, most of them invertebrates and plants. There are 170 fish species, four mammal species and 175 species of sea sponges,

The Black Sea is an enclosed sea with a large drainage basin, "which makes its natural environment and ecosystems highly vulnerable".

Enrichment of seawater with inorganic fertilizers, overfishing of marine organisms, destruction of the seabed through construction and bottom trawling, and introduction of plant and animal species foreign to the Black Sea are among the challenges facing biodiversity and the marine ecosystem, alongside climate change and the effects of human activity.

16 million people from 6 countries are celebrating today - the people who live along the Black Sea coast.

Let's keep our sea clean!!!