Belgian part of the North Sea#
Description#
The Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) is found in the Southern Bight of the North Sea and borders the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of France, the Netherlands and the UK. The test site covers 3,447 km2 (the entire Belgian EEZ). Leading blue economy sectors are fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, renewables and mineral extraction. Currently, 36.5% of the BPNS is designated as protected, through five Natura 2000 Marine Protected Areas (3 SPAs and 2 SACs), one marine reserve and a Ramsar site. The key characteristics of the test site are: Well-studied and monitored sea area with a second revision cycle of the MSP currently ongoing; The present conservation status of benthic habitats is unsatisfactory; Lack of conservation objectives and management related to pelagic habitats; New management plans include measures for nature restoration (e.g. oyster reefs); There are no official fine-scale geographical biodiversity assessments units.
Sources
Matczak et al. (2024) Test Sites Methodology Including the Participation Strategy (Deliverable – D5.2., under the WP5 of MSP4BIO project (GA n° 101060707))