Webinars

Four years of expeditions to North Sea reefs, what have we learned? Researchers from the North Sea ReViFES programme will share there key lessons. Topics include: why is it important to understand the functioning of natural reefs? What are the lessons learned for ecosystem services of North Sea reefs? And how do we move ahead?

Together with ecologists, researchers, lawyers, professionals from the offshore wind sector, we will zoom in on the duty of decommissioning. Within the next five years the first wind farms need to be removed from the North Sea. That is why we dive into the topic. We do this from an ecological, legal and economic perspective and discuss the impact of decommissioning on nature, the value of the nature created in wind farms and circumstances that would allow for ‘leaving certain structures behind’.

The Rich North Sea and ReVIFES organized a webinar on nature development in the Belgian North Sea. Ecologists Yana Deschutter (Belgian federal government) and Steven Degraer (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) took us through the ecological effects of offshore wind farms. They also talked about the Belgian monitoring program WinMon.BE, which aims to provide efficient and effective environmental impact assessments of offshore wind farms.

Significant progress has been made in understanding the ecological role of man-made infrastructure in the marine environment, but where are we headed? Should structures be left in place for nature conservation, or should everything be cleared from the North Sea? It is important to start thinking now about the decision-making process surrounding the long-term functioning and fate of structures. During the webinar ‘Getting it Right – Leave In-Situ or Remove?’ at the Offshore Decommissioning Conference, colleagues Maarten and Eline gave an example of how nature and wind can be integrated. But what happens after the turbines reach the end of their lifespan?