Contact: Kertu Hool
After the second draft of the Estonian maritime spatial plan (MSP) was made public by the Ministry of Finance, the Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF) made a thorough evaluation of the MSP and provided comments on a number of aspects.
Overall, the MSP makes a welcome contribution to integrated sea use and refers helpfully to the ecosystem-based approach. But the ecosystem-based approach should have been more consistently applied to specific topics like shipping and sand extraction and should be clearly included in the vision statement. We also suggest that references to “blue growth” be replaced by “sustainable blue economy”. The MSP is too lax on the question of sand and gravel extraction. For example, protection of spawning grounds is not mandatory, just “recommended”. Marine Protected Areas in the Estonian waters continue to have gaps and needs to increase in area coverage.
Shipping enjoys a disproportionately privileged status. While it is indeed a sector with long-standing (including international) regulations, the MSP should still seek a more balanced approach in weighing shipping against other marine space uses, and regarding the need to achieve good environmental status. Rules for bunkering at sea must also be made stricter, given the risk of oil spills. Marine aquaculture does not provide sufficient environmental safeguards and future aquaculture development areas are not specified, due to insufficient data. Yet “unsuitable areas” are mapped as a recommendation. According to ELF, clear and binding no-go areas would give stronger guidance to maritime operators and managers.
Renewable energy development, particularly wind energy at sea is dealt with in detail. A step-by-step process to select possible sites for future development of wind-parks is described, taking both physical and ecological factors into account. Bat migration patterns at sea can be affected by the spatial location of wind parks and should be used in future EIA requirements for wind energy development in the Baltic Sea. The MSP also refers to a possible bridge over Suur väin Strait. ELF continues to maintain that such a bridge would be a significant threat to millions of migrating seabirds and economic arguments in favour are weak. The decision on the bridge will be taken separately – ELF is ready for a long fight.
A pessimist could see the MSP as a “half-missed” chance, while an optimist could see this a half a step in (broadly) the right direction.
This article is part of the WWF Baltic Newsletter – May 2020
