Spatial Policy To Protect Marine Habitats

Making a trade-off between the conservation of these rare marine habitats and other functions will benefit from improved spatial policy. For example, protected zones could be established where marine animals can live undisturbed. This is one of the conclusions from the Nature Balance 2008 of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which - together with the Environmental Balance 2008- was officially presented today to Minister Verburg of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Minister Cramer of the Environment and Spatial Planning.

Quality is still inadequate

In recent years, the North Sea and the Wadden Sea have become cleaner, but this improvement is not enough to comply with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. The quality of nature has improved in the Wadden Sea, but this is not yet the case in the North Sea, where the quality is now approximately half that of habitats still untainted by human influence. In order to achieve the European targets, the quality of marine habitats in the Netherlands must improve.

Young fish

Due to heavy pressure from the fishery, fish stocks in the North Sea have declined, and the age profile of the fish has become lopsided. The population is dominated by young fish because the older members of the species are caught. The composition of species has also changed. Fishery policy has contributed to reducing overfishing, but it has been unable to prevent all fish species from becoming threatened. European nature policy (the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive) has the objective of maintaining protected species and habitats in a "favourable conservation status". To achieve this objective for the sea, three actions are important: making the fishery more sustainable, improving the water quality and restoring the natural dynamics in the delta region and the Wadden Sea. For the North Sea, spatial regulation is also important. World-wide, the biodiversity of oceans and seas is under pressure especially due to overfishing. One-fourth of all fish stocks in the world are overfished or have already been exhausted.

Climate change

Climate change has significant consequences for the sea. The North Sea has become warmer during the past 25 years. Partly as a result of this warming, many fish species now live in the North Sea - such as European seabass. sea bream and the greater weever - which were previously uncommon at this northern latitude. In addition, more CO2 is dissolving in sea water, causing the acidity to rise. This slows the growth rate of molluscs. In the Wadden Sea, the rising sea level is resulting in less area becoming exposed during low tide. But climate change also creates opportunities for nature. If the plans for adapting to climate change, including the tidal opening of the Afsluitdijk (Closure Dike) and the Delta Works, are implemented in such a way that freshwater and saltwater mix together, then plant and animal species can return which disappeared many years ago. This primarily concerns rare species that are also protected at the European level.

Rate of progress is insufficient

Every year, the Nature Balance describes the state of nature and the changes that have taken place, and it evaluates the effects of policy on nature quality. The nature and environmental policy that has been implemented during the past decade is gradually making progress. The area of nature reserves is increasing, and the environmental pressure on nature has been reduced. However, the rate of progress is still insufficient to achieve the policy targets. This applies not only to nature policy, but also to the policy for landscape and recreation. The effectiveness of this policy can be improved with better coordination between policy fields, for example between the Natura 2000 policy and the measures to comply with the Water Framework Directive.