Sites under the Nitrates Directive

The Nitrates Directive (1991) aims to protect water quality throughout Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources from polluting groundwater and surface water and by promoting the use of good agricultural practices. The Nitrates Directive is an integral part of water legislation alongside the Water Framework Directive and is one of the key tools to protect water from agricultural pressures. In Finland, Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources was implemented in 2000 by Government Decree (931/2000) on the restriction of access to waters for nitrates from agricultural sources, adopted on the basis of the Environmental Protection Act (86/2000). Both the Environmental Protection Act and the Government Decree were renewed in 2014. The Government Decree (1250/2014) on the limitation of certain emissions from agriculture and horticulture, adopted on the basis of the current Environmental Protection Act (527/2014), entered into force on 1 April 2015. The regulation contains an action programme within the meaning of Article 5 of the Nitrates Directive, which applies throughout the national territory. The data includes observation sites for surface water in 2020-2023 in accordance with the Nitrates Directive, which were reported in summer 2024. The data is included in SYKE's open data (CC BY 4.0). An INSPIRE data product has been published from the data. Further information: https://geoportal.environment.fi/meta/public/documents/Nitrates DirectiveOtherObservations.pdf The purpose of the Nitrates Directive (1991) is to protect water quality throughout Europe by preventing the pollution of groundwater and surface water by nitrates from agricultural sources and by promoting the use of good agricultural practice. The Nitrates Directive is an integral part of water legislation, alongside the Water Framework Directive, and is one of the key instruments for protecting waters from agricultural pressures. In Finland, Directive 91/676 / EEC on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources was implemented in 2000 by a Government Decree (931/2000) on the restriction of nitrates access from agricultural sources to waters issued under the Environmental Protection Act (86/2000). Both the Environmental Protection Act and the Government Decree were renewed in 2014. The Government Decree (1250/2014) on the limitation of certain emissions from agriculture and horticulture, issued pursuant to the current Environmental Protection Act (527/2014), entered into force on 1 April 2015. The regulation contains an action program within the meaning of Article 5 of the Nitrates Directive, which updates throughout the national territory. The data includes surface water monitoring sites in accordance with the Nitrates Directive for 2020-2023, which were reported in summer 2024. This Syke’s dataset can be used according to open data license (CC BY 4.0). INSPIRE compatible dataset has been published.