Towards a strategy for offshore installations to enhance the environmental status of coastal seas: Multi-use concepts for ecosystem restoration
In European coastal and shelf seas, concurrent and sometimes conflicting economic and conservation needs call for innovative spatial management approaches that take account of new use concepts. In highly degraded environments, large areas contemplated for offshore wind farm (OWF) development could be actively used for different ecosystem enhancement concepts such as habitat restoration or the establishment of artificial reefs as part of conventional scour protection systems. Simultaneously, different uses, such as extractive aquaculture or other offshore renewable energy could be located within OWFs to more efficiently use limited marine space while also maximizing the benefit of a site. However, to date the environmental and spatial enhancement potential of such multi-use approaches is rarely considered in OWF planning and development. One concern is that stronger focus on such enhancement approaches could lead to reduced efforts in other urgent nature protection needs such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). We argue that co-designed by knowledgeable stakeholders, and effectively implemented, appropriate forms of multi-use concepts could help with impact reduction of OWF areas and the improvement of the already floundering ecosystem status of coastal and shelf seas, all while maintaining urgently needed conservation schemes.
Authors
- Nils Goseberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1550-3001)
- Anneke Heins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8156-0987)
- Carsten Lemmen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3483-6036)
- Corinna Schrum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3251-4551)
- Rudolf Amann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-7372)
- Maurits Halbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9544-6122)
- Kimberley Peters (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7297-6334)
- Peter J. Schupp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4831-2751)
- Kira Gee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7773-6070)
- Dietmar Kraft
- Sabine Horn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1637-1191)
- Vera Sidorenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5956-1844)
- Bela H. Buck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7491-3273)
- Katja Heubel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7946-5542)
- Torsten Schlurmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4691-7629)
- Karen Helen Wiltshire (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7148-0529)
- Andreas Kannen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2952-3078)
- Vanessa Stelzenmüller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6419-8357)
- Ben Boteler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7078-7094)
- U. Wilhelmsen
- Alexander Schendel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4938-1062)
Institutions
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE)
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Hochschule Bremerhaven (DE)
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (DE)
- Technologie- und Förderzentrum im Kompetenzzentrum für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (DE)
- Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ (DE)
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon (DE)
- Technische Universität Braunschweig (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Marine Policy
- Published
- 2025-09-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106893
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Coastal and Marine Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.42
Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung