INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCES
Operational Directorate Natural Environment
MARECO – Marine Ecology and Management
On the Compatibility of Offshore Wind Farms and Marine Protected Areas The race for space in the marine environment urges the consideration of co-locating human activities at sea. The recently proliferating offshore wind farms pose threats to and at the same time, offer possibilities for marine conservation and restoration. MARECO investigates options for mitigating undesired…
Jomopans JOMOPANS will deliver an innovative combination of modelling and high-quality measurements at sea for an operational joint monitoring program for ambient sound in the North Sea. The use of consistent measurement standards and interpretation tools will enable marine managers, planners and other stakeholders internationally to identify, for the first time, where sound may adversely…
UNITED Multi-Use offshore platforms demoNstrators for boostIng cost-effecTive and Eco-friendly proDuction in sustainable marine activities The UNITED project will provide evidence for the viability of ocean multi-use through the development of five demonstration pilots in the real European marine environment. The Belgian pilot is centered around the combination of offshore wind energy, seaweed (Saccharina latissima)…
Assessing the Conservation Status of the “Vlakte van de Raan” Marine Protected Area The “Vlakte van de Raan” Special Area for Conservation has recently been spatially extended in the framework of a revision of the Belgian marine spatial plan (2020-2026). To ascertain a proper management of the MPA, an updated scientific assessment of the habitats…
Designing Measures to Reduce the Impact of Fisheries on Seabed Integrity In the framework of the Habitat Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, biodiversity and habitat conservation and restoration must be pursued also in Belgian waters. Accordingly, the Marine Spatial Planning 2020-2026 included an area of maximally 285 km²…
Measuring Marine Plastics in the Belgian Part of the North Sea The ‘Marine Plastics’ project aims to draw up an approach to monitoring of marine microplastics. In compliance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, microplastics have to be monitored in the water column and sediments of the Belgian part of the North Sea. Different approaches…
Belgian national non-indigenous species monitoring Non-indigenous species may have substantial impact on the marine ecosystems, especially in coastal regions. They may change the original habitat, oust the native species and consequently alter the ecosystem structure and functioning. They hence are of particular managerial concern and therefore addressed by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. To…
Belgian National Beach Litter Monitoring The presence of marine litter is a global problem that continues to increase in all seas and oceans. It affects marine ecosystems, challenges human activities that use and depend on the sea and are a cause of concern for human health. In addition, many organisms are adversely affected by plastic…
Belgian National Gravel Bed Monitoring In the framework of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive, MARECO is responsible for the design and implementation of the national monitoring program on seafloor integrity and biodiversity in natural gravel bed biotopes, classified as a geogenic reef under the EU Habitats Directive. This multidisciplinary monitoring program exploits underwater remote sensing…
OUTFLOW Quantifying the cOntribUTion of Fouling fauna to the Local carbon budget of an Offshore Wind farm OUTFLOW investigates how the presence of large densities of fouling fauna on wind turbines in offshore wind farms affect the spatial distribution of organic matter at the local and regional scale. These organisms filter large quantities of organic…
