Stakeholders were asked about their overall perception of the health of the Black Sea, their economic and professional dependence upon it and their sense of responsibility for the health of the Black Sea. The general consensus among all stakeholders surveyed is that the Black Sea is not healthy. Alternatively, there was not clear agreement on either the dependence upon or responsibility for the Black Sea among all stakeholder groups. This lack of consensus is to be expected as a wide array of stakeholders reflected varying degrees of dependence and responsibility (Figs 7.2 and 7.3).

Table 7.1        Stakeholder perceptions of the Black Sea

* Natural Resources, Ecology, Water or Environmental Ministry

** Parliamentary committees for environmental protection

Figure 7.1 Stakeholders’ responses to the queston: “is the Black Sea healthy?”

Almost equal portions of stakeholders identified themselves as dependent and not dependent on the health of the Black Sea (Fig. 7.2). Most individuals reported an indirect professional or economic dependence on the health of the Black Sea. Within groups this division was more varied within nearly half of the groups showing no clear agreement on this issue, as delineated in Table 7.1. These findings suggest that it may be advisable to raise the profile of the economic importance of the Black Sea health with regard to chemical pollution and possibly biodiversity. Though this link is often difficult to clearly delineate, attention to economic importance of the Black Sea may generate broader support for Black Sea Commission activities.

Figure 7.2 Stakeholders’ assessment of their dependence on the health of the Black Sea

In comparison to the dependence results, a large portion of respondents reported that they feel either directly or indirectly responsible for the health of the Black Sea. (Fig. 7.3) This may be a result of the polling venue itself, or of those stakeholders selection process, however if verifiable this does bode well for the over all support for the project. In contrast though there was not clear agreement within 40% of stakeholder groups of their overall responsibility for the health of the Black Sea. It should be noted that most groups that feel they are dependent on the health of the Black Sea also feel that they are responsible for it. One very important exception is the tourism and recreation that strongly agreed that they are dependent on the Health of the Black Sea, however they were divided in terms of the responsibility for the health of it. This suggests that there may be a good point for a targeted intervention for the tourism and recreation industry, at least, to help it take steps to avoid negatively impacting the Sea.

Figure 7.3 Stakeholders assessment of their responsibility for the health of the Black Sea

Stakeholders were given a set of statements within the survey and asked to select their level of agreement from: strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, and agree strongly. The responses were examined both as stakeholder groups and individual respondents. They were asked questions pertaining to specific environmental issues, as well as broader concerns impacting environmental management strategies. Responses regarding the perceived trade-off between economic development and environmental health were illuminating, as were responses pertaining to the need for environmental education and support for regional cooperation.

In response to the question of the importance of economic development and environmental protection stakeholders individually indicated that environmental health of the Black Sea is important to them. A significant majority disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement that economic development now is more important than the environmental health of the Black Sea region (Fig. 7.4). This bodes well for the future, but local opinion (at least) is likely to much more strongly in favour of agreement if economic development substantially increases employment or personal wealth.

Figure 7.4 Stakeholders’ responses to the statement: “economic development now is more important than the environmental health of the Black Sea region”

This paradox is refelected in responses to the statement: ‘most other people believe that meeting short term economic needs is more important than long term environmental concerns’, with 50% of individual respondents agreeing (Fig. 7.5). This suggests that stakeholders may be dubious of the ability to meet economic needs while protecting the ecology/state of health of the Black Sea. This may also suggest that people are more willing to say they believe that other people seem to value economic issues more than environmental issues, rather than admit to this themselves. It is interesting to note that of all stakeholders surveys less than a dozen agreed more strongly with the statement: ‘economic development now is more important than environmental health of the Black Sea region’, than the statement: ‘most other people believe that meeting short term economic needs in more important than long term environmental concerns.’ This suggests that people are concerned about the environment individually, but feel that overall there should be stronger levels of support for environmental issues across the region.

Figure 7.5 Stakeholders’ responses to the statement: “most other people believe that meeting short term economic needs is more important than long term environmental concerns”

This supposition is supported by the responses to the statement: ‘if people know more about the causes of environmental problems they would want to make changes to improve it’. Individually, 80% of stakeholders were in agreement, with 34% in strong agreement. In comparison, only 6% disagreed and 1% disagreed strongly (Fig. 7.6). This suggests that there is a strong need for environmental education that clearly links cause and effects of environmental problems, and details actions individuals can take to make improvements in conditions. The strong level of agreement spanned all countries throughout the region and all stakeholder groups.

There is strong support for regional cooperation in the Black Sea region. There was very strong agreement from stakeholders in response to the statement: ‘regional cooperation of countries around the Black Sea can improve conditions in my community’ (Fig. 7.7). While the statement does not refer specifically to environmental issues, the strong support from all stakeholder groups and all countries suggests that there is awareness among stakeholders of the importance of increased cooperation throughout the region, and the benefits it can bring to communities.

Figure 7.6 Stakeholders’ responses to the statement: “if people knew more about the causes of environmental problems they would want to make changes to improve it”

Figure 7.7 Stakeholders’ responses to the statement: “regional cooperation of countries around the Black Sea can improve conditions in my community”

The findings suggest that there is a strong foundation for further investments to maintain/improve the status of the Black Sea, based the overall concern and willingness of stakeholders to support such activities. While these portend well for the future, the actual awareness and understanding of cause and effect relationships should be elucidated so that stakeholders have a clearer understanding of the role they play in specific issues. The sections below outline stakeholder priorities and perceptions of the major transboundary issues dealt with in Section 4.