Summary – As offshore wind power expands in Europe, maritime planners more and more want to contemplate the potential results of those actions on the various kinds of marine protected areas (MPAs), together with Natura 2000 websites. The goal of this text is to critically evaluation the preliminary improvement of offshore wind power inside and/or within the neighborhood of Mediterranean Natura 2000 websites and different forms of MPAs. The western Mediterranean Sea is taken for example as that is the place many of the offshore wind developments have been proposed. As a way to open up dialogue of offshore wind power coverage and information ecological analysis that helps holistic choices relating to offshore wind farm (OWF) set up within the area, we (i) define the context of Natura 2000 and different MPA coverage within the Mediterranean for OWF improvement, (ii) summarize the potential impacts of OWF on EU-protected habitats and species, (iii) assess the interactions of OWFs, the Natura 2000 websites, and different MPAs, and (iv) suggest suggestions to method OWF improvement within the Mediterranean with a purpose to safeguard the Natura 2000 websites and different MPAs. After documenting the potential overlaps between OWFs and MPAs within the western Mediterranean, we suggest OWFs be positioned exterior Natura 2000 and different MPA websites, together with their buffer zones. We additionally advocate for rigorous and unbiased Applicable Assessments to be carried out for OWF proposals that would have an effect on protected areas.
Josep Lloret, Paul Wawrzynkowski, Carlos Dominguez-Carrió, Rafael Sardá, Climent Molins, Josep Maria Gili, Ana Sabatés, Josep Vila-Subirós, Laura Garcia, Jordi Solé, Elisa Berdalet, Antonio Turiel, Alberto Olivares
Institute of Aquatic Ecology, College of Girona; Institut de Ciències del Mar, Barcelona; Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Girona; Division of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona; Socio-Environmental Change Analysis Group, Environmental Institute, Division of Geography, College of Girona; Division of Earth and Ocean Dynamics, College of Barcelona; School of Regulation, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Logroño, Spain; Institute of Marine Sciences—Okeanos, College of the Azores, Horta, Portugal
ICES Journal of Marine Science, fsad131, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsad131
Printed: 21 August 2023
Obtain authentic doc: “Floating offshore wind farms in Mediterranean marine protected areas: a cautionary story”
