Gypsum Initiative

The project created an international gypsum themed collaborative network and enabled gypsum experiments in the Baltic Sea region. The project was led by the John Nurminen Foundation. The project was funded by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment from the funds allocated by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs for Cooperation in the Baltic Sea, Barents and Arctic Regions.

Goal

The project promoted gypsum treatment of fields in countries surrounding the Baltic Sea.

Schedule

2020

2021

Status

The project created an international gypsum themed collaborative network and enabled gypsum experiments in the Baltic Sea region.

Finland has had good experiences of using gypsum treatment of fields as a water improvement measure. Treating fields with gypsum to protect the water system has yielded good results in the River Savijoki region in Southwest Finland, and River Vantaa near the Helsinki metropolitan area. In both catchment areas, the phosphorus load of fields treated with gypsum was immediately reduced by up to 50% and with very moderate investments.

This 2-year project established a network of farmers, researchers and authorities in the Baltic countries, Poland, Sweden and Denmark to enable the gypsum treatment of fields. Additionally, the project determined how well gypsum is suited for use locally, and prepared for a larger scale implementation of gypsum treatment and to have it included in national agricultural subsidy programmes in the countries around the Baltic Sea.

“Finland can pave the way for the use of gypsum in agriculture in a larger scale to protect waters. This offers significant opportunities for the protection of the Baltic Sea. This would further contribute to gypsum being formally acknowledged as a means to improve the condition of the Baltic Sea in HELCOM’s updated plan of action and EU’s agricultural subsidies,” said Krista Mikkonen, the Finnish Minister of the Environment and Climate Change in the previously published press release.

The project was carried out by the John Nurminen Foundation, the Finnish Environment Institute, and the University of Helsinki.