Horse Manure and the effects on the Baltic Sea

Helping horse owners achieve substantial positive effects on the Baltic Sea.

Horse manure is an overlooked and significant diffuse source of nutrients leaking to the Baltic Sea. With effective measures - especially the more frequent mucking of pastures and paddocks - this leakage can be substantially reduced.

In cooperation with key stakeholders, Race For The Baltic engaged with the horse community and launched the initiative Varje Skit Räknas in Sweden. The purpose was to increase knowledge about the impact of horse manure on eutrophication and encourage Sweden's horse keepers to muck more often.

We have now completed the campaign and followed up with a market survey among horse keepers in Sweden to establish comparable benchmark values for the project related to horse manure practices. Compared to pre-campaign levels, the survey results indicate a reduction of more than 2 000 kg of phosphorus leaking to the Baltic Sea. This is enough to reduce algae blooms by 2 000 tonnes [1], equivalent to 75 average wetlands [2]. Also, the results indicate that a higher percentage of the horse community muck with the intention of making a positive impact on the environment and to reduce the risk of nutrient leakage from paddocks and winter pastures.

While our own active campaigning and research have come to an end, we will maintain a pressure on the topic and continue our measurements on how manure handling in the horse community is developing.

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[1] Calculation made by Finnish Environmental Institute for John Nurminen Foundation
[2] Average effect within Landsbygdsprogrammet 2,6 - 4,5 kg P/ha according to Jordbruksverket, Rapport 2015:7 “Näringsavskiljning i anlagda våtmarker i jordbruket”. 2 tonnes P would equal 75 wetlands of 6 acres each.

The project adresses SDG 6 (clean water), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 17 (partnership for the goals).