Offshore wind farms offer - besides threats - also opportunities for ecosystem restoration
Researchers call for spending 1-5 percent of wind farm budget on ecosystem restoration
Substantial growth in the number of offshore wind farms is generally seen as necessary to meet climate goals. But this development also has a potentially large, negative impact on marine ecosystems, which are already under severe pressure from activities such as fishing, shipping, and oil and gas extraction. Existing legislation is therefore 鈥 understandably 鈥 aimed at avoiding or reducing these negative impacts as much as possible. But in doing so, we overlook the fact that wind farms can also actively contribute to ecosystem restoration, researchers write in an article in Bioscience. They advocate reserving 1 to 5 percent of new wind farm investments for this purpose.
The study, led by (De Rijke Noordzee) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), was conducted by a diverse team of international scientists. Marleen van Rijswick (professor of European and national water law) and Tjeerd Bouma (professor of physical geography) of Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 collaborated on it.
Investing in biodiversity through permits and tendering procedures
While huge amounts of money will be invested in new offshore wind farms over the next 35 years, bold policies to restore marine ecosystems and biodiversity are still lacking, researchers write. Indeed, the money available for this purpose is far exceeded by 鈥渉armful鈥 subsidies going to the fisheries and oil and gas sectors. According to them, this imbalance can be partially solved by including large-scale marine restoration as an integral condition when planning the constructing of new offshore wind farms, for example by including in permits and tenders that a fixed portion of the funding will benefit biodiversity.
While offshore wind farms offer the advantage of being able to make other, potentially more damaging, activities such as shipping and fishing impossible, there is a growing trend to still allow as much multifunctional use (e.g. aquaculture) as possible. But according to the researchers, wind farms should instead be seized upon to limit all extractive use, and could even serve as a basis for ecosystem restoration in the adjacent area.
The researchers found that dedicating just 1 percent of the global offshore wind investments from now till 2050 could fund the restoration of millions of square kilometers of marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and oyster reefs. 鈥淥ffshore wind has a unique opportunity to not only support the energy transition but also become the first marine industry to make a net-positive contribution to large-scale ecosystem restoration,鈥 says lead author Christiaan van Sluis (The Rich North Sea). 鈥淏y embedding smart biodiversity requirements in offshore wind licensing and tendering procedures now, we can reverse biodiversity loss with just a fraction of the total investment.鈥 According to the study, every dollar invested in ecosystem restoration can return $2 to $12 in societal benefits.
The Netherlands, as well as Denmark and the United Kingdom, already have tendering procedures that lend themselves well to including nature restoration. Based on some recent tenders for wind farms in these countries, the researchers conclude that it is feasible to reserve 1 to 5 percent of the budget for ecosystem restoration. An internationally organized, legally enshrined approach ensures fair competition and economies of scale, and prevents the construction of new wind farms from going to contractors who offer the lowest price without considering ecosystem restoration.
The article in Bioscience can be read here: