In Finland, we live surrounded by water environments. The Baltic Sea surrounds the southern and western coasts of the country. Inland, there are thousands of lakes and ponds. There are also hundreds of rivers, and even more smaller brooks.

However, these aquatic environments are under serious threat of becoming ruined. There are many factors behind this:

• The bodies of water are shallow and contain relatively little water.
• There is a lot of agricultural, industrial, and recreational activity near water environments.
• During the winter, the waters freeze over, preventing organisms from receiving oxygen.
• In spring, nutrients are transported to the bodies of water as the snow and ice melts.