Disappeared, Endangered and Newly Arrived Species: The Human Relationship with the Changing Biodiversity of the Baltic Sea (HumBio)

This research project investigates the human relationship with the disappeared, endangered, introduced, and non-native as well as invasive marine animals and plants in Finland. These species and their changed populations have been previously studied almost entirely in the field of natural sciences. This project examines human relations with the changing marine biodiversity from humanistic viewpoints. In this way, the project aims to provide new knowledge for other scholars, decision-makers, and the broader public of how the changes in the Baltic Sea biodiversity have been understood and perceived in Finnish culture and society in the long term, and how these changes have affected Finnish perceptions of sea and archipelago environment. It also offers new knowledge that facilitates the cultural adaptation of introduced species and the changes in the marine environment as well as gives new angles to understand the Anthropocene as a global phenomenon.

The project is funded by the Academy of Finland 2021-2025.