Corporate Social Responsibility

Nord Stream takes corporate social responsibility in several fields, like in the protection of the marine environment, marine archaeology research and music.

Marine environment

Underlining its commitment to the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, the company will fund a three year research project on interactions between seabed, water birds and man in a changing Baltic Sea environment. The project, undertaken by the Department of Biology at Gotland University and the Institute for Applied Ecology in Rostock, will focus on the biodiversity of shallow water areas east of Gotland, on Hoburgs Bank south of Gotland and in the Pomeranian Bight.

These areas are important for fishery as well as globally important for several species of water birds. Intensively used shipping routes also cross the areas. The areas harbour, among other species, approximately two millions long-tailed ducks, or about 50 % of the European population in winter. Sea ducks like the long-tailed duck depend on abundant benthic food in coastal waters and offshore banks and may therefore serve as model organisms for the study of seabed/water bird interactions.

The overall aim of the project is to link high quality data on seabed structure, bottom fauna and water bird populations and to identify the most important interactions that influence bird densities and make certain sites especially valuable for water birds during wintering and migration.

A further aim is to investigate effects of human use of the sea and environmental change on the benthic fauna and water bird populations.

The collected data and results of the project can be used by administrative bodies for conservation of biodiversity and for further spatial planning of the areas.

The project will link research on seabed conditions, benthic fauna, avian ecology and human activities at sea. It should therefore use a variety of approaches such as:

Surveys of bottom structure in selected study plots (e.g. bathymetry/sonar, video, ROV)
Sampling of benthic fauna in selected study plots (including sampling of mussel beds by divers)
High-resolution water bird surveys (mainly aircraft-based)
Estimation of demographic and genetic parameters of water birds (e.g. reproduction, mortality, genetic differentiation)
Assessing the current population status and trend and modelling current and future distribution and population development of water birds
Analyses of fish / fishery data

Marine archaeology research

Nord Stream is supporting a detailed survey of shipwrecks on the Baltic seabed near Gotland. This marine archaeology project is a joint initiative of the County Museum of Gotland, Gotland’s Havsgille and the marine archaeology company AquaArkeologen. It was launched with the purpose to research and document Gotland’s maritime heritage, including wrecks and other artefacts.

Baltic Sea conditions mean that the remnants of wooden ships, metal objects and other man-made items survive for hundreds of years (sometimes for much longer) on the seabed.

Located in the centre of the Baltic Sea, the Swedish island of Gotland is surrounded by the remains of wrecks of merchant ships, ships carrying pilgrims, pirate ships, fishing boats and warships.

The investigation is prioritising maritime archaeology and historical research into the disaster that befell the Danish-Lübeck fleet in 1566: up to 7,000 men and 16 warships were lost in a storm while they were at anchor outside Visby port. A first step will be to salvage the 4 meters long cannon from 1566. This will be treated for preservation and then exhibited at the County Museum at Gotland.

Nord Stream is pursuing the most extensive investigation ever of the Baltic seabed and its environment along the planned pipeline route in cooperation with environmental experts and marine archaeologists around the Baltic Sea. The support for this marine archaeology project is a way of giving back some of the knowledge Nord Stream is gaining in the pipeline project.

Music

Nord Stream supported a classical music concert in the Visby Congress Hall on the first night of the Baltic Sea Convention on 24 June 2007. Given by the Baltic Youth Orchestra, made up of 60 young musicians from the Baltic States, the concert drew an audience of 700 people – convention delegates and Gotlanders.