Sand is vital for building the foundations of our society. Currently, around 50 billion tonnes of this raw material are extracted worldwide each year, and the growing world population is only increasing demand. The environmental and social impacts are forcing us to rethink our dealings with sand. In a new report launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), experts from around the world make recommendations to switch to better practices for the extraction and management of sand. Experts from Belgium were also involved. New developments in Belgian policy proactively anticipate an increasing demand for marine sand.

50 billion tonnes, this is the amount of sand (and gravel) that we as a world population consume every year, making it the second most used resource in the world after water. Enough to build a wall 27 metres wide and 27 metres high around planet Earth. Despite the strategic importance of sand, its extraction, use and management are largely unregulated in many parts of the world, with numerous environmental and social consequences that are largely overlooked. Where sand plays an active role in the ecosystem, such as in rivers, coasts and shallow seas, extraction can lead to erosion, salinisation of aquifers, loss of storm protection and impacts on biodiversity, which in turn threaten our water supply, food production, fisheries or the tourism industry, among others.

Increasing demand

Sand is vital for building the foundations of our society: our houses, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, dams, but also, for example, photovoltaic panels to produce renewable energy, … these are just some of the many applications of sand that we have developed. Sand can justifiably be called the unrecognised hero of our development.

We have become accustomed to easily accessible sand supplies, with the result that sand is often used faster than it can be replenished by natural geological processes. As the world population is growing rapidly, and the proportion of the urban population is expected to increase to over 68% by 2050, the demand for sand will only increase.

10 recommendations to avert a crisis

It is therefore high time to reassess our dealings with sand, and to recognise sand as a strategic resource. This is stated in the new report Sand and Sustainability: 10 strategic recommendations to avert a crisis‘ launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this report, experts from around the world and from various sectors bring together recommendations to move towards better practices for the extraction and management of sand.

The recommendations include establishing integrated policy and legislative frameworks, mapping sand resources, promoting resource efficiency and circularity, responsible procurement and restoring degraded ecosystems. The major objective of this report is to encourage policy makers at all levels of government to adopt relevant policies and standards and promote best practices in line with local sand dependencies and development needs.

The 10 recommendations

1. Recognise sand as a strategic resource that provides critical ecosystem services and is the basis for building vital infrastructure in developing cities around the world.
2. Consult with all stakeholders (involved and impacted) on decision-making and implementation of sand extraction.
3. Enable the transition to a regenerative and circular economy.
4. Implement strategic and integrated policy and legislative frameworks, in line with local, national and regional realities.
5. Property rights and regulated access to sand resources through mineral rights and permits contribute to sustainable sand mining.
6. Map, monitor, and report on sand resources for transparent, science-based and data-driven decision-making.
7. Promote the development of best practice guidelines and national standards, as well as a coherent international framework.
8. Reduce the use of sand and replace it with alternatives and recycled sand products where possible.
9. Buy sand in an ethical, sustainable and socially conscious way.
10. Restore ecosystems and compensate for losses by increasing the knowledge base, integrating mitigation measures in mining operations, and promoting nature-based solutions.

Pro-active management of marine sand resources in Belgium

The demand for sand, and in particular marine sand, is steadily increasing in Belgium. The Continental Shelf Service of the Federal Public Service Economy manages Belgium’s sea sand resources and does so in a proactive manner, relying on the best available knowledge and monitoring methodology. Building on research results, an innovative policy is in force that imposes a lower limit on extraction based on the geological reserve, as well as criteria to minimise the impact on the seabed environment. This new benchmark has been in place since 2020, is being closely monitored, and represents a real paradigm shift in favour of sustainable management of the resource.

An evaluation of the marine sand exploitation in the Belgian part of the North Sea leads to the conclusion that the management of our marine sand stock is already in line with recommendations 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 of the new UNEP report. Recommendations 2, 3 and 8, which focus on the transition to a circular sand economy, are obviously also very important to implement, and fit into a larger transition framework which in the meantime should not prevent us from continuing the current marine sand exploitation within the established sustainable environmental and socio-economic boundaries. Based on the monitoring results (bathygeomorphology, sediment and benthic biota) obtained before, during and after the sand extraction in various Belgian sand extraction zones, recommendation 10 on ecosystem restoration is not critical for the Belgian part of the North Sea.

Belgian contribution to the UNEP report

Vera Van Lancker of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and professor at Ghent University was responsible for the recommendation on sand mapping and use, environmental monitoring and reporting with emphasis on the need for decision support systems (Recommendation 6). Globally, but also regionally, the quality and quantity of available sand is hardly known. However, the demand for sand is unprecedentedly high and increasing, with large-scale mining possibly becoming the new norm. However, the knowledge base to support such extraction is minimal. The joint consideration of geological, environmental and socio-economic parameters is therefore of paramount importance for informed decisions. With increasing extraction, and possible scarcity, the dependencies between man and nature, but also between sandy and poor regions, are put to the test. For a more systematic understanding of these dependencies, and to support (cross-border) decision-making, the need for data, knowledge and information, as well as predictive science, is greater than ever.

Vera: “The challenges of increasing sand use are great, whereby contemporary practices and associated impacts may not be appropriate. An accelerated mapping of sand resources is needed for which structural cooperation offers the most perspective. This requires more standardisation in the classification of raw materials, which also takes into account the environmental and socio-economic dimension. Predictive modelling of extraction scenarios and man-nature dependencies is becoming more important.”

Aurora Torres, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université Catholique de Louvain, led the recommendation on restoring degraded ecosystems (Recommendation 10), together with other experts. Sand is fundamental to maintaining biodiversity and the variety of ecosystem services that meet societal needs. Policy makers, industry and other stakeholders are therefore encouraged to take measures to avoid and minimise risks to biodiversity and ecosystem services, restore ecosystems and compensate for remaining losses. Also in the perspective of the UN targets for ecosystem restoration (2021-2030), further efforts are needed to better document the impacts of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services, to improve the effectiveness of mitigation and restoration efforts, and to ensure the use of science-based assessment and monitoring as a basis for impact assessment, mitigation planning and compensation. Finally, sand also contributes to the restoration and protection of land, freshwater systems or coastal areas against erosion or flooding. Nature-based solutions and ‘building with nature’ approaches are strongly recommended here.

Aurora: ” Transitioning to a circular economy requires that we become less dependent on natural systems as material suppliers. When extraction is deemed necessary, sand resources must be obtained in a responsible manner that prevents or minimises damage to ecosystems and people.”

Astrid Smeets and colleagues of Bureau Brussels contributed to recommendations on how to include sustainability in the entire supply chain from the origin of sand to its user, and how to achieve a broader societal change (Recommendations 3 and 9). These range from (re)educating architects to use alternative materials, to a fiscal policy directing financial flows towards alternatives to sand or more sustainable extraction and use. In order to create a stimulating policy, it is important that governments and companies come together to share and apply best practices. By tackling a more sustainable sand policy at an international level, one can learn from local solutions that already exist and which, with minor adjustments, can easily be applied on the other side of the world. This is both time and cost efficient.

Astrid: “The transition to a more sustainable raw materials policy will also be felt here in Belgium. We see Europe tackling the sustainability of supply chains at an unseen pace with, among others, the EU Taxonomy and supply chain liability. Companies and governments will have to account for the impact of their activities on people and the environment. In addition, they will have to demonstrate how sustainable they and their suppliers are. Sand will undoubtedly also be on the agenda in the near future. With the ten recommendations from the report, governments, knowledge institutions, the business community and consumers can get started to avert a major crisis. The sooner we start looking for solutions, the better for people, planet and our economy.”

 

ANNEX 1: More information on marine sand extraction in Belgium

Numbers and more information on the management of marine sand resources in the Belgian part of the North Sea, the scientific basis, and the ecological impact:

• Continental Shelf Service: General – Study Day 19 Nov 2021 – A 360° perspective on Sea Sand (French – Dutch)
• RBINS/MUMM
• Compendium Coast & Sea

 

ANNEX 2: Belgian partners and contacts

The FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy, Continental Shelf Service, is the competent government agency for sand extraction at sea. Together with the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), the physical and biological changes in sand extraction areas are monitored, and recommendations are formulated to minimise the impact. During three-yearly study days, the results are presented in an integrated way, and attention is also paid to the broader sustainability framework.

Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS). Federal Scientific Institute that combines fundamental and applied research, among others for estimating the effects of human activities in marine waters. With regard to sand extraction, efforts are being made to better understand the variability of sediment characteristics and processes, to model the activity-pressure chain effects on the marine environment, and to formulate recommendations for a more sustainable use of marine resources. To this end, the RBINS coordinated the Belspo TILES project that mapped the quality and quantity of sand stocks. Further valorisation and new initiatives are being developed within the framework of the European ‘Geological Service of Europe’ action, in which the European Geological Services are joining forces in support of societal challenges.

Université Catholique de Louvain, Earth and Life Institute, has as a major goal the design of sustainable solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing our societies (e.g. transitions to sustainable land use, the influence of globalisation on decisions, and the interactions between public and private governance). UCLouvain is collaborating with Michigan State University to investigate important links between sand use, economic activity, environmental pressures and social impacts (SANDLINKS: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/846474).

Bureau Brussels is a public affairs consultancy supporting businesses, public authorities and non-profit organisations in the European policy-making process. Bureau Brussels supports for clients in various fields such as women’s health care, circular economy, sustainability, digital and financial sectors. From a circular point of view and a chain approach, the topic of ‘sand’ has also been on the agenda for a number of years.

In the Southern Ocean, human presence and the combined effects of various forms of pollution, transport, infrastructure, and the pursuit of living resources, together with accelerated climate change, are exerting increasing pressures on the environment. These changes have the potential to alter the role of the Southern Ocean in regulating global climate and other systems, which will in turn impact a host of other important ecosystem services. Being well adapted to stable environmental conditions, with unique traits, Antarctic species are considered more vulnerable to environmental perturbations and pollutants, compared to species from more northerly latitudes. The vast, remote and harsh environment of the polar regions means that no single nation can develop and implement a research and data strategy to understand and manage these regions.

The UN Ocean Decade and the Southern Ocean Community

In 2017, the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (hereafter referred to as the UN Ocean Decade) from 2021 until 2030 to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health. To achieve this ambitious goal, this initiative aims to gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in creating improved conditions for sustainable development of the world’s oceans. The initiative strives to strengthen the international cooperation needed to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies that can connect ocean science with the needs of society at the global scale.

The UN Ocean Decade Societal Outcomes align strongly with the remit of the Antarctic Treaty (see below). The Southern Ocean community, that involves not only the scientific research community but a much broader group with representatives of the business and industry sector as well as governance and management bodies, therefore recognises the need to develop and implement a coordinated, international plan that builds on our existing understanding of how human interaction with the Southern Ocean can benefit people and societies in ways that will also contribute to the protection and conservation of the unique characteristics of these regions.

Uplifting Southern Ocean Actions to Global Standards

The Southern Ocean is underrepresented at the international level, despite playing an important role in regulating climate and many other systems at the global scale. The Southern Ocean Task Force will benefit from the UN Ocean Decade in order to provide a platform to underline the importance of the Southern Ocean and highlight its relevance in the Earth System. Owing to its well-established operation, the Southern Ocean community is uniquely placed to join the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development.

Based on the recommendations in the Implementation Plan of the UN Ocean Decade, the Southern Ocean community engaged in a stakeholder-oriented process to develop the Southern Ocean Action Plan. As part of this global effort, the Southern Ocean Task Force identified the needs of the Southern Ocean community to address the challenges related to the unique environmental characteristics and governance structure of the Southern Ocean. Through this community-driven process, synergies within the Southern Ocean community and beyond were identified in order to elaborate an Action Plan that provides a framework for Southern Ocean stakeholders to formulate and develop tangible actions and deliverables that support the UN Ocean Decade vision.

The Southern Ocean Action Plan

With funding obtained via the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) took on a leading role in coordinating the Southern Ocean Task Force and guiding the Southern Ocean process.

The Southern Ocean Decade and Polar Data Forum Week 2021, co-organised in September 2021 by RBINS and the European Polar Board, was one of many concrete initiatives. The week-long event gathered 400+ participants with diverse backgrounds, which allowed for cross-fertilisation of ideas between researchers, data managers, policymakers, business, industry representatives, etc. The discussions and collaborative work culminated in the publication of the Southern Ocean Action Plan, that was publicly launched during a webinar on April 12^th, 2022.

The Action Plan describes the bridges we need to achieve the Southern Ocean we want, with respect to

• Funding: Securing sufficient and long-term funding, and coordination of the funding, is particularly crucial for the Southern Ocean, as many areas are inaccessible throughout the winter season. Therefore, there is a need to coordinate calls to improve the technological capabilities to operate in and observe inaccessible areas year-round, to transport, maintain and rapidly analyse samples, and to support the establishment of a sustained collaborative network of long-term observatories.
• Crossing boundaries: Transcending national efforts internationally, linking research disciplines, and co-designing global polar research priorities, are crucial for a long-term and integrative research strategy.
• Identifying and connecting stakeholders: Improving the dialogue at the science-policy interface, ensuring that societal needs are reflected and addressed through research, and linking the industry with research, infrastructure and logistics, will illustrate the potential of available knowledge and the uptake by stakeholders (including decision-making) and lead to better management practices and strengthened protection of the fragile Southern Ocean region.
• Data, observations and modelling: Informed decision making to achieve the ocean that we want relies upon appropriate scientific input, which itself relies upon scientific data. In order to make the best possible use of such data, we must improve spatial and temporal coverage, ensure that data are fully utilized, maintain data series and continually make these available to new generations of researchers, and make maximal use of modelling and new and novel techniques (such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Techniques).
• Capacity building, inclusion and diversity: The current capacity of the Southern Ocean community is not sufficient to address all of the issues that are now being faced, many of which have important societal implications. Therefore, there is a need to ensure diversity of voices at the table (at all stages of planning, research, funding and data sharing), to invest in capacity building, and improve technology for better access to data and information.

“Through the publication of the Southern Ocean Action Plan, the Southern Ocean Task Force aims to mobilise the Southern Ocean community and inspire all stakeholders to seek engagement and leverage opportunities to deliver innovative solutions that maintain and foster the unique conditions of the Southern Ocean” says Annemie Rose Janssen of the RBINS, and lead author of the Action Plan. “This framework provides an initial roadmap to strengthen links between science, industry and policy, as well as to encourage internationally collaborative activities in order to address existing gaps in our knowledge and data coverage.”

As such, and being part of the UN Ocean Decade, the Southern Ocean Action Plan aims to contribute to the achievement of the UN Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals in a polar context. Only in this way can we achieve a clean, healthy & resilient, productive, predicted, safe, transparent & accessible, and inspiring & engaging Southern Ocean.

More information

To learn more about this decade-long initiative, please visit the project website and the Southern Ocean Action Plan, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Vimeo.

We thank the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) for the financial support under BELSPO contract n°FR/36/ AN1/AntaBIS and BL/36/FWI34_PUNDOS-PPODS in the Framework of EU-Lifewatch.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by the 12 countries whose scientists had been active around Antarctica in 1957-58, including Belgium (there are 54 members nowadays). It entered into force in 1961 and describes, among other things, the intentions to only use Antarctica for peaceful purposes, to guarantee the freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica, and to make scientific observations and results from Antarctica freely available.

On Thursday 31 March 2022, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and the North Sea, Mr Vincent Van Quickenborne, and the State Secretary for Relance and Strategic Investments, in charge of Science Policy, Mr Thomas Dermine, visited the new Belgian research vessel ‘RV Belgica’ (‘RV’ stands for ‘Research Vessel’). The presence of the Minister of Defence, Mrs Ludivine Dedonder, was also foreseen, but unfortunately she had to excuse herself. During the visit, the emphasis was on the unique cooperation between the three policy areas with regard to the management, operation and deployment of the vessel. Special attention was also paid to the new scientific challenges that Belgian and international marine scientists will face thanks to the new RV Belgica. The visit took place at the naval base of Zeebrugge, the home port of the new RV Belgica.

Since Belgium disposed of a marine research vessel in the form of the former RV A962 Belgica (1984 – 2021), our scientists have been punching above their weight in both national and international contexts with regard to marine research and monitoring, marine spatial planning and Blue Economy. The ship also played an important role in the training of marine scientists. The need for a high-performance national research ship cannot be underlined enough. After more than 1,000 scientific campaigns, more than one million kilometres travelled and 37 years of service, the old RV Belgica needed to be replaced so that Belgium can remain at the forefront of marine science and technology.

The new RV Belgica arrived in Belgium on 13 December 2021 and, after the necessary tests and training, started her scientific activities on 27 January 2022. It was the culmination of a long process: feasibility and financial studies on a possible replacement were carried out in the period 2005-2014, on 28 October 2016 the Council of Ministers decided to build a new research vessel, on 31 March 2017 the public contract for the construction was launched, and on 16 March 2018 the contract was finally awarded to the Spanish Freire Shipyard (Vigo). After a design study, the construction started concretely on 13 February 2019 with the cutting of the steel. The keel laying on 27 March 2019 and the first launch on 11 February 2020 were important milestones in the construction process.

Unique cooperation

The federal government’s departments of Science Policy, Defence and the North Sea not only worked closely together to realise the new RV Belgica, but are also major users and clients of the ship. The ministerial visit of 31 March was filled with a guided tour of the ship and expert explanations about the ship and her missions by Corvette Captain and Captain of the RV Belgica Gaëtan Motmans, and by Dr. Lieven Naudts, coordinator RV Belgica at the RBINS. Finally, the Golden Book of the new Belgica was signed.

Thomas Dermine, Secretary of State for Science Policy: “The new RV Belgica has the most modern equipment on board and has four times more laboratory space than the previous Belgian research vessel. This will allow the scientific community to address new challenges from the Mediterranean Sea to above the Arctic Circle. The RV Belgica will contribute significantly to Europe’s world leadership in marine exploration.”

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the North Sea: “The new Belgica is an icon for the research world and invaluable for North Sea policy. Among other things, it is responsible for monitoring the effects of sand extraction, wind farms and the Paardenmarkt munitions dump. In our North Sea, we are pioneers in many areas: windmills, autonomous shipping, marine spatial planning and also scientific research. With this ship, Belgian scientists can punch above their weight in marine research.”

The cooperation between the policy areas translates into the practical aspects of the operation and management of the RV Belgica: the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) represents the Belgian State as the owner of the RV Belgica, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN) manages the calendar, budget and scientific instrumentation of the multidisciplinary research vessel, and the Belgian Navy component provides the bridge personnel and the home port of Zeebrugge. In this way, the cooperation model around the former Belgica, which dates back to the 1960s and can be considered a success, is continued. The new Belgica now also involves a new partner: the private French operator Genavir, which also manages the French oceanographic fleet, is responsible for the integrated management and operation of the ship.

Missions and specifications

The new multidisciplinary RV Belgica guarantees the observance of national and international obligations of our country and ensures the continuity of support to marine sciences (fishery, biology, geology, climate, chemistry, …). Thus, scientific research by universities and research institutes as well as monitoring of the state of Belgian and surrounding marine waters are part of the tasks. The monitoring activities support, among others, a series of dossiers which fall under the competence of Minister for the North Sea Van Quickenborne, such as the national implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the documentation of the ecological impact of various human activities at sea. In this way, the knowledge necessary to support the Blue Economy is built up. Think for example of sustainable fishing, wind farms at sea, sand and gravel extraction, mining activities in the deep sea, energy storage off the coast, etc. Just like the former RV Belgica, the new research vessel will also be active in the European EUROFLEETS network, which allows international scientists to obtain ship time on foreign research ships.

However, the new RV Belgica also allows the scientific community to focus on new challenges. Indeed, compared to its predecessor, the new ship is larger (71.4 m compared to 50 m), and offers more space to scientists (four times more laboratory space with the capacity to take up to 28 scientists on board). The new RV Belgica is also equipped with state-of-the-art scientific equipment that, among other things, allows samples to be taken to a depth of 5,000 m. It is also a silent ship (important for fisheries research, among other things), with a light ice strengthening to be able to conduct research in Arctic areas during the summer. Although the North Sea remains the main focus area, the research area extends further: northwards to above the Arctic Circle, further south including the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and westwards to the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel has an autonomy of 30 days and will carry out research for up to 300 days at sea each year.

Since the start of operations on 27 January 2022, several research groups have conducted their first scientific campaigns with the new RV Belgica. The experiences were evaluated very positively. So far, the focus has been on the Belgian part of the North Sea, but in 2022, some international campaigns are already on the agenda. This year, the new Belgica will also be active in English, Irish, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian waters. For 2023, a first polar expedition is being looked forward to, with Greenland in the crosshairs. The Belgian Navy is also looking forward to many data collected by the Belgica, for example, in the future the new mine-fighting vessels will use Belgica information when searching for mines on the sea floor.

Additional information and future events

The new RV Belgica will be inaugurated on Saturday, 25 June in the city of Ghent. This will happen in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth, who accepted to be the godmother of the research vessel. During the weekend of 25 and 26 June, the general public will also have the opportunity to visit the ship and learn more about various scientific activities. The press will receive more details about the full programme, press moments and registration possibilities in due time.

More information on the new RV Belgica can be found on the following websites:

• https://odnature.naturalsciences.be/belgica/en/ – Website RV Belgica (RBINS) – Focus on activities, specificatiibs and equipment.
• https://www.belspo.be/belspo/NewRV/index_en.stm – Website RV Belgica (BELSPO) – Additional detail on the timeline to the new Belgica, the construction process and specific research projects funded by BELSPO.

 

EDEN2000 studies: Belgium leading the way in Europe

Wind farms at sea are important for our energy supply. The current wind turbines in the Belgian North Sea provide energy for 2 million Belgian households. With the Princess Elisabeth Zone, this share will be increased and all Belgian households will be able to enjoy green energy from the North Sea. In the Marine Spatial Plan 2020-2026, three additional zones have been designated for renewable energy. Two of them are located in or adjacent to a Natura 2000 area, in which the present biodiversity must be extra protected. It is crucial, also for the development of wind farms in these zones, to maintain this protection and even strengthen it where possible. The EDEN2000 project wants to provide an answer to the question of under what conditions we can achieve this through 25 separate studies that are currently underway. These studies will be included in a tender to be put on the market next year. On 22 March 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne visited the UGent Faculty of Agriculture where one of these studies is being carried out. That lab research focuses on the effects of electromagnetic fields on the development of marine animals.

Wind farms at sea are important for our energy supply. The current wind turbines in the Belgian part of the North Sea provide green energy for 2 million Belgian households. This currently makes our country number six in the world in terms of offshore wind capacity. With the new Princess Elisabeth Zone, we are increasing this share and all Belgian households will be able to enjoy green North Sea energy.

The Belgian part of the North Sea already contains 37% nature reserve and our country will now also be the first European country to build wind farms in a nature reserve, more specifically in the Natura 2000 area ‘Vlaamse Banken’. This is an area in which the biodiversity must be extra protected. In particular, the shallow sandbanks and gravel beds form refuges for endangered species such as the Dead man’s fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) and the Mermaid’s glove (Haliclona oculata). Belgium wants to ensure that these nature reserves are not disturbed by the construction of wind turbines and to maintain and even strengthen their protection where possible.

EDEN2000: research with many aspects

The construction of these wind farms not only requires an environmental permit, but also an additional Natura 2000 permit. This assesses whether or not a project at sea will have significant effects on the species and habitats to be protected.

The Belgian part of the North Sea has been studied closely for a long time. Through the Winmon.be project, the state of the marine environment in the first offshore wind farms has been monitored and a lot of knowledge has been acquired. However, there are still many gaps in the scientific knowledge about the impact of wind farms on nature in the North Sea. These gaps concern both knowledge on how to avoid negative impacts and how to enhance positive impacts.

The EDEN2000 project (Exploring options for a nature-proof Development of offshore wind farms inside a Natura 2000 area) must therefore, via 25 separate studies that were started in 2019 and will be completed by the end of this year, provide an answer to the question of under what conditions we can realise the wind farms in nature reserves.

These include the mapping of gravel beds, the impact on habitat, the influence of wind turbines on seabirds and the impact of techniques and materials used on the biodiversity present.

On 22 March 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne visited the UGent Faculty of Agriculture where researchers affiliated with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and UGent are conducting one of the studies of the EDEN2000 project. The lab research there focuses on the effects of electromagnetic fields on the development of marine animals such as the small spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and common squid (Loligo vulgaris). These species are expected to reproduce successfully again in the gravel beds once the wind farm is developed and bottom-disturbing fishing is eliminated.

Knowledge of the sensitivity of these species to electromagnetic fields, combined with detailed knowledge of the location of the valuable gravel beds, will be used to determine an ecologically sound positioning of cables in the wind farm.

On 18 March, the federal government decided to accelerate the transition to renewable energy with additional investments in offshore wind energy. Minister Van Quickenborne is backing this commitment and points out that the final report of the nature studies will be ready in early 2023.

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the North Sea: “The development of the Princess Elisabeth Zone is important for the energy supply of our country. What makes the Belgian offshore so special is that we will be the first country to build wind turbines in a nature reserve. We can do this because we have already built up a lot of scientific expertise on the environmental impact of wind farms. We will therefore be able to determine the boundary conditions very precisely and strictly in the tender procedure. No fewer than 25 nature studies will be conducted for this purpose.”

Steven Degraer, marine ecologist Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences: “Deploying a thorough scientific knowledge of the marine environment and how it is affected by human activities at sea is the guarantee for an ecologically responsible blue growth. This knowledge not only allows us to avoid negative effects in a very targeted way, but also to reinforce positive effects.”

More information

EDEN2000 is a cooperation between vice prime minister and minister of the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Marine Environment Service of the FPS Public Health, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences – OD Nature, 4Sea (an umbrella organisation of NGOs) and the Belgian Offshore Platform. The results of this scientific research will be included in the tender conditions for the construction of wind turbines.

• The EDEN2000-studies: Dutch – French
• The marine spatial plan: Dutch – French
• The appropriate assessment: Dutch – French

Early July 2020, a Dutch shrimp trawler in Belgian territorial waters hauled up nothing less than an elephant tusk in its nets. The 60 kg, 2.37 m long fossil does not belong to a mammoth, as is often the case in our regions, but appears to have come from a Palaeoloxodon antiquus. This is a type of forest elephant that inhabited the area in between ice ages. It is the first time that such an intact specimen has been found here. The tip and part of the base of the tooth are missing. A reconstruction shows that the entire tusk was more than 2.8 m long. Palaeoloxodon antiquus was a giant that was bigger than the elephants that roam the Earth today! The tusk belongs to an adult male individual about 3.5 metres tall. The age of the fossil is estimated between 130,000 and 115,000 years.

Thanks to the joint efforts of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and the North Sea, Vincent Van Quickenborne, and State Secretary for Recovery and Strategic Investments in charge of Science Policy, Thomas Dermine, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences was able to add the tusk to its collections. From Tuesday 8 February 2022, the general public can admire the tusk at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

Who was the straight-tusked elephant?

Palaeoloxodon antiquus is a forest elephant that disappeared from our regions before the mammoth. The species was widespread in Europe and thrived mainly during the warmer periods between two ice ages (the interglacials). This discovery is remarkable because there was little evidence of its former presence in Belgium. Palaeoloxodon antiquus was long considered the ancestor of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) but is now considered a close relative of the current African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). Palaeoloxodon antiquus probably originated on the African continent, but it is still little known how widespread this species was in prehistoric times.

Based on the geology of the site, its precise location and the finds of other mammal remains, it is estimated that the tusk dates from the last interglacial period of the Eemian, a period in the Late Pleistocene (approximately 130,000 to 115,000 years ago).

A trench full of fossils

The tusk was fished in “Het Scheur”, a channel in the Belgian part of the North Sea off the coast of Zeebrugge. Dredging is regularly carried out there to enable large ships to enter the Scheldt or Eurogeul. This causes erosion of the banks of the trench. Many mammal fossils have come to the surface in this way. These include the remains of the southernmost Pleistocene walrus colony in the world, the bones of ancient whales that swam here tens of millions of years ago, and the remains of mammoths.

The region where the tus kwas found has changed dramatically in appearance throughout history. It has alternated between sea and land, was covered by an icecap during ice ages, and was a tidal landscape with forests in between the ice ages. This explains why many fossils of very different organisms are found here. However, a tusk of a straight-tusked elephant tooth was never among them.

The fact that this tusk has remained intact is thanks to the fishing method. When fishing for shrimp, no chains are used and the bottom of the net rolls freely on and over the bottom thanks to rubber “wheels”. The shrimp roll in while the net remains free of stones and other unwanted bycatch. Fossils are very rarely caught with this type of net.

A detour to the Museum of Natural Sciences

The Dutch fishermen sold the tusk to North Sea Fossils, a private fossil dealer in Urk, the Netherlands. Afterwards, it was initially studied by researchers associated with the Rotterdam Museum of Natural History.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Minister for the North Sea, Vincent Van Quickenborne, and the State Secretary in charge of Science Policy, Thomas Dermine, negotiations were started to recover the Belgian fossil. Finally, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences was able to include the tusk in its collections, where it will remain available for research and is also made accessible to the public. From Tuesday 8 February 2022, the general public will be able to admire the tusk at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels. The signing of the declaration of donation took place on 7 February 2022, on the occasion of the inauguration of the fossil tusk.

Minister Van Quickenborne, State Secretary Dermine and General Director Supply admire the tusk of the straight-tusked elephant in the Museum of Natural Sciences. (Image: RBINS/T. Hubin)

A new cooperation agreement

The discovery of the fossil tusk was also the occasion for drawing up a cooperation protocol within the framework of the law on the implementation of the UNESCO Convention of 2 November 2001 on the protection of underwater cultural heritage and the protection of valuable shipwrecks. In this agreement, the Governor of West Flanders, the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs (FPS Mobility and Transport), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, the Flemish Heritage Agency and the Flanders Marine Institute henceforth formalise the cooperation regarding the protection of the underwater cultural heritage, including the paleontological heritage, and the protection of valuable shipwrecks. The agreement ensures that future discoveries at sea will also be recorded, studied and, where necessary, made accessible to the public.

Minister Van Quickenborne: “Our North Sea reveals its treasures only sparsely. Yet the objects we find there are an important part of our heritage. Since last year, we have a new law that automatically protects heritage older than 100 years. More than 55 historic shipwrecks have already been recognised. Thanks to this law, we can now also include fossils in our heritage. The signing of the cooperation agreement is the final piece of this new law. In this way, the tusk of the straight-tusked elephant will not disappear into a private archive. Instead we can let everyone enjoy the richness of our North Sea heritage. At the same time, the scientists connected to the RBINS can research it and thus refine their knowledge of the prehistory in our regions.”

Secretary of State Dermine: “The fossilised tusk of a straight-tusked elephant, which was found off the coast of Zeebrugge, has, after a short wander, found its way to where it belongs. The RBINS is Belgium’s most important research centre for palaeontology and is renowned worldwide. The fossil, which is more than 115 000 years old, is being studied at the RBINS and is linked to other treasures in the huge collection of no less than 3 million fossils. This way, it forms a piece of the puzzle in the picture of life in our regions in ancient times, which is brought to life in the Museum of Natural Sciences. From 8 February onwards, the tusk can be admired by the 350,000 visitors who come to the Museum every year.”

General Director a.i. RBINS Patricia Supply: “Earth sciences, including palaeontology but also geology and archaeology, have always been an important field of research at the RBINS. It has allowed us to build up a reputable level of palaeontological knowledge and expertise. The acquisition and exhibition of the tusk of a forest elephant is closely linked to the objectives of the RBINS: in addition to scientific research and services, the management and development of heritage and scientific collections, and the dissemination of knowledge in the natural sciences are also core tasks of the institute. Today, the tusk is given a very prominent place in our museum, near the mammoth of Lier and the African elephant that once lived in the Brussels zoo.”

In a new annual report, the scientists that monitor the environmental impact of offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea summarise their latest findings. Once again, some surprising revelations are included. The results show that life in and around the wind parks has not yet reached stability 13 years after construction. Examples include that the biodiversity of fouling communities on wind turbines increases again after a decline in previous years, and that seabird movements are more spatially and temporally variable than previously known. The risk for songbird collisions is now better understood, and mitigation measures are proposed for periods of intense bird migration. Artificial reefs between turbines keep developing, with some fish species being attracted to the growing amount of food that these provide. Echolocation data indicate that underwater noise mitigation measures effectively reduce the impact of pile driving on harbour porpoises.

On 31 December 2019, Belgium submitted a National Energy and Climate Plan to the European Commission which envisions a target figure of 17.5% for the contribution of the production of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea are expected to make an important contribution to achieve that goal. They are in fact already doing so, as currently 10 % of the total Belgian electricity demand, or 50% of the electricity demand of all Belgian households, is already produced by offshore wind farms. This is realised by a total of 399 turbines in eight wind farms, grouped in a zone of 238 km² along the border with the Netherlands. After 12 years of construction, this zone was fully operational from the end of 2020 and accounts for an installed capacity of 2.26 Gigawatts (GW) and an average production of 8 TWh. This puts Belgium in the 5^th place worldwide in the production of this form of energy. A second area for renewable energy of 285 km² is foreseen by the new Belgian marine spatial plan (2020-2026), aiming for an installed capacity of 3.1 to 3.5 GW in this zone.

Science, policy and industry pulling in the same direction

Prior to installing a wind farm, a developer must obtain a domain concession and an environmental permit. The environmental permit includes terms and conditions intended to minimise and mitigate the impact of the project on the marine ecosystem. As required by law, the permit also imposes a monitoring programme to follow up the effects on the marine environment.

For offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea, the monitoring programme WinMon.BE documents the extent of the anticipated and unexpected impacts on the marine ecosystem and aims at revealing the processes behind these impacts.

Growing insight into the environmental impact

The WinMon.BE scientists started monitoring the impact of offshore wind farms in Belgium at the start of the construction of the first wind turbines in 2008. This has allowed them to develop extensive knowledge and expertise with regard to the monitoring methods and the actual environmental impact. “Belgium now has the longest time series of data on the environmental impact of offshore wind farms in the world, and many countries are looking at the Belgian example for inspiration to start up similar programmes.” says Steven Degraer (RBINS/MARECO), coordinator of the WinMon.BE consortium. “The time series has already revealed unique insights but we are still regularly confronted with surprising results that lead to new knowledge. This illustrates the importance of maintaining the follow-up effort in the long term and substantiates why we need to remain flexible in our interpretations and in adjusting human activities at sea.”

In their latest report, the WinMon.BE partners present an overview of the newest scientific findings of the Belgian offshore wind farm environmental monitoring programme, based on data collected up to and including 2020. They zoom in on patterns of attraction, avoidance and habitat use at various spatial scales (wind farm-, turbine- and microhabitat-scale) and across different ecosystem components (marine mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates that live on the seabed and turbines), and demonstrate the benefits of the increasing knowledge to design appropriate measures to mitigate undesired impacts or promote desired effects.

Overview of the results

Effects on the seabed and the associated life

The start of the monitoring in the wind farm closest to the coast showed that this area harbours very diverse seafloor-inhabiting biological communities. The response of these valuable communities to long-term turbine presence and fishery exclusion will be carefully followed up in the next years.

In the longer-established wind farms, the colonisation by marine organisms and the effects on the seabed were continuously monitored. Initially, colonisation by invertebrates and fish with a preference for hard substrates in the immediate vicinity of individual wind turbines was particularly noticeable. Ten years after construction, it is now observed that these local effects are expanding towards the soft sediments in between the turbines. Artificial reefs are being formed, with more epibenthic and fish species that are associated with hard substrates now also dwelling on the soft sediments. The species involved include blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), anemones, common starfish (Asterias rubens), green sea-urchin (Psammechinus miliaris), hairy crab (Pilumnus hirtellus) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). For epibenthic species, this also leads to significantly higher overall densities and biomass inside the farms.

Attraction of fish to the offshore wind farms mainly takes place at the scale of individual turbines. Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), a commercial flatfish species, is attracted to the sandy patches between the scour protection layer around offshore wind turbines, as they provide optimal food and shelter opportunities. Benthopelagic fish like pouting (Trisopterus luscus) and cod (Gadus morhua), that traditionally linger around the turbines and their foundations, were already previously shown to be attracted to the developing artificial reefs, as these offer excellent feeding opportunities for these species.

Developments in the water column

In the maturing biofouling community on the turbine foundations, species interactions start playing an important role. Shells of blue mussels provide secondary hard substrate habitat attractive to colonizing organisms, and thus contribute to an increase in species diversity. A comparison of the species composition of the early (mussels not prevalent) and mature (mussels prevalent) colonizing communities showed that 21 out of 47 identified species were uniquely growing on mussel shells. These were all sessile species, mainly molluscs, arthropods, annelids and bryozoans. This effect counteracts the impoverishment of species richness that was found before as result of the abundant presence of the plumose anemone (Metridium senile).

Pile driving activities during the construction of offshore wind farms causes considerable noise pollution. Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), well established cetaceans in the Belgian part of the North Sea, are known to avoid areas with excessive sound levels. Therefore, the application and effects of potential mitigation measures received much attention. By comparing acoustic monitoring datasets from 2016 (when no mitigation was applied yet) and 2019 (application of Double Big Bubble Curtains) it was determined that underwater noise mitigation measures effectively reduce the spatial and temporal extent of avoidance of the construction area by harbour porpoise.

And above the water surface?

Displacement of seabirds caused by offshore wind farms has proved to be a complex process. Attraction to and avoidance of wind farms by seabirds has multiple causes including visual disturbance induced by the turbines and the presence of offshore rest and foraging opportunities, and may in part also be explained by the absence of fisheries in Belgian wind farms. The ongoing monitoring now starts to provide more insight in the spatial and temporal variation of seabird responses. Spatial variation may result from differences in local habitat quality, wind farm size and configuration as well as its location relative to bird colonies and favoured feeding grounds. Temporal variation may depend on the life cycle of the species. In this context, it now appears that GPS-tagged adult lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) from nearby breeding colonies are not attracted by the Norther wind farm, while the conspecifics that were shown to be attracted to the more offshore Belwind farm included migrating and immature individuals. In the longer term, some seabirds may also habituate to the presence of offshore wind turbines. This could be the case for northern gannet (Morus bassanus), common guillemot (Uria aalge) and razorbill (Alca torda), that seemed to avoid the wind parks in the past but were all present in good numbers during the most recent monitoring survey.

When flying at rotor height, migrating songbirds are also at risk of collision with offshore wind turbines. The intensity of songbird migration is especially high at night, as was confirmed by continuous bird radar surveys in a Belgian offshore wind farm. The collision risk increases when weather conditions deteriorate. An effective measure to reduce bird collisions is to temporarily idle turbines when these events occur at wind turbine rotor height. A modelling study shows that a total of 682 songbird collisions would have been avoided in autumn 2019 if the turbines of all Belgian offshore wind farms had been idled when bird fluxes exceeded 500 birds per km and hour at rotor height. Although we don’t know what species are concerned, it is unlikely that these songbird collisions have a significant effect at the population level. Whether this will still be the case for the cumulative effects of all planned wind farms in the North Sea is unknown at this time.

 

The Monitoring Programme WinMon.BE is a cooperation between the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), the Research Institute Nature and Forest (INBO), the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) and the Marine Biology Research Group of Ghent University, and is coordinated by the Marine Ecology and Management team (MARECO) of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

WinMon.BE is commissioned by the Federal Government as part of the environmental permit conditions for offshore wind farms. For the monitoring, use was made of the research vessel Belgica (ship time on RV Belgica was made available by BELSPO and RBINS – OD Nature), the research vessel Simon Stevin (operated by the Flanders Marine Institute) and the observation aircraft of RBINS.

All scientific reports of the WinMon.BE monitoring are publicly available.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Français and Nederlands.

The new oceanographic research vessel Belgica will be operated by Genavir, specialised in the management of scientific vessels. The manager of the French oceanographic fleet will thus also become the first French shipping company to manage a ship under the Belgian flag.

As a subsidiary of the French Institute of Marine Research (Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer, IFREMER), Genavir has 45 years of experience in providing services to scientific and state institutions. The shipping company manages, operates and maintains the coastal and offshore vessels of the French oceanographic fleet, as well as the manned submarine Nautile, ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) and other marine scientific research equipment.

“This is a first in Europe and a great recognition of our know-how” says Eric Derrien, Managing Director of Genavir. “We are proud to have been chosen from several European shipowners. The Belgian government has put its trust in us and we are now committed to satisfying the Belgian scientific community and future international users of the vessel”.

With a length of 71.40 m and a width of 16.80 m, the Belgica was first launched on 11 February 2020. The ship is currently being delivered by the FREIRE Shipyard in Vigo, Spain, and the Genavir crew is preparing for the takeover, which should take place in early December 2021. The ship will soon be taken to her home port, the Zeebrugge naval base, where she is expected to arrive before the end of 2021. The Belgica will have the status of an auxiliary ship of the Belgian Navy, and will fly the corresponding flag.

A combination of strong expertise

The mixed crew will consist of three Belgian naval officers (on secondment at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), including the first captain Gaëtan Motmans, in addition to officers and sailors from Genavir. The ship will of course remain the property of the Federal Science Policy (BELSPO), and the RBINS will remain responsible for the budgetary management of the ship, the scientific instruments and the programming of the scientific campaigns.

“The award of the contract for the operation of the new Belgica to the operator Genavir is the final step before the ship can set sail for Belgium,” said Lieven Naudts, coordinator of the ‘Measurement Service and RV Belgica’ team at the RBINS. “We are very much looking forward to continuing Belgium’s marine scientific activities with the new Belgica, launching new lines of research and thus remaining at the forefront of European marine scientific research.”

Large working area, low environmental impact

The new BELGICA has all the necessary equipment to carry out scientific campaigns from the polar to the intertropical zone, and from shallow waters to a depth of 5,000 metres.  Its exploration area covers the North Sea, far beyond the Arctic Circle, the Atlantic Ocean as far as West Africa, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Monitoring the state of the Belgian part of the North Sea will of course always remain an important action point.

The vessel is designed as a ‘green ship’, with extremely low emissions due to the treatment of the exhaust gases, thus meeting the strictest contemporary standards (MARPOL Tier III).

The research vessels Belgica and James Clark Ross, which were handed over to Ukraine by Belgium and Great Britain respectively, were given new names on Friday, 29 October 2021. This happened during a ceremony in their new Ukrainian home port Odessa. From now on, the ships will sail the seas under the names ‘Borys Aleksandrov’ and ‘Noosphere’.

The renaming ceremony was held in the Odessa seaport, in the presence of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The ceremony was part of a presidential working visit to the city. For Belgium, the honours included Mr Patrick Roose, Director of the Operational Direction Natural Environment of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS).

From her maiden voyage in 1984 until her last scientific campaign in March 2021, the RBINS was responsible for the budgetary management, scientific instrumentation and planning of the RV A962 Belgica’s scientific campaigns. The Federal Science Policy was the proud owner of the ship, and the Belgian Navy provided the crew, operational support and a berth in the home port of Zeebrugge.

After the handover to the Ukrainian authorities on 13 September 2021, a short training period of the new crew and a successful transit to Odessa (during which a complex scientific programme was also carried out), the ship – together with her former British colleague – is today the start of a new Ukrainian scientific fleet. The country has not had such a fleet before. The transfer to Ukraine was made possible by a joint EU/UNDP project, “European Union for Improving Environmental Monitoring of the Black Sea (EU4EMBLAS)”.

Borys Aleksandrov

It was President Zelenskyy himself who announced the new names of the research vessels. The Belgica was renamed in honour of the famous Ukrainian marine biologist Borys Aleksandrov, Doctor and Professor of Biological Sciences and also former director of the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences. Two years ago, on 4 December 2019, he was tragically killed in a terrible fire at 25 Troitskaya Street in Odessa.

After the renaming ceremony, a roundtable discussion took place on Belgian-Ukrainian marine cooperation, blue economy, and further development of marine monitoring, initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

Noosphere

The British icebreaker James Clark Ross was renamed ‘Noosphere’. This ship will make marine research near the Ukrainian Antarctic station Akademik Vernadsky possible again for Ukrainian scientists. During the ceremony, President Zelenskyy spoke directly to scientists currently working at this polar station.

The noosphere is supposed to be a new, higher stage in the evolution of the biosphere, connected with the development of society, which has a profound influence on natural processes. Whatever the case may be, the development of the noosphere doctrine is particularly associated with the name of Vladimir Vernadsky, the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

Read also:

https://www.ua.undp.org/content/ukraine/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2021/ukraine-renames-vessel-for-black-sea-environmental-monitoring.html