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MEKUN: Protecting the oceans
Between coastal idyll and crisis signal - How Schleswig-Holstein protects its seas
The North Sea and Baltic Sea shape the landscape and the lives of people in Schleswig-Holstein - this is where we live, work and relax. But our seas are in a poor state. In order to preserve marine nature, Schleswig-Holstein is protecting its marine areas with various approaches.
Oceans are complex ecosystems. The animal and plant species living here are interconnected in a large structure: with other species, their habitats and the environmental conditions. At the same time, the oceans are an economic and social space that we humans use extensively. Reconciling the demands of nature and humans leads to numerous challenges in marine nature conservation.
Offshore wind farms, for example, are an important pillar of sustainable energy supply and climate protection - but they can disturb birds on their migration routes or displace them from resting areas. Water sports are a popular leisure activity for locals and visitors alike - but boat anchors damage seagrass beds and fast watercraft can scare away wintering resting birds. So what does it take to meet all requirements?
Holistic marine protection
Due to the diverse interactions, it is usually more effective for the long-term conservation of marine nature not only to protect individual species, but also to protect particularly valuable marine areas as a whole. This area protection is laid down in various agreements at national and international level. In Germany, there are various categories of protected areas based on the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Various objectives can be achieved with the different categories of protected areas. In order to create a balance between nature conservation and use, human activities are only regulated to the extent necessary for marine protection, depending on the sensitivity and conservation value of the areas.
Most of the existing German national parks are currently still "development national parks".
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The Ocean Race Europe 2025
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National parks such as the Wadden Sea National Park are a well-known category of protected area. National parks are large and largely unfragmented areas that are uniformly protected. This makes them suitable for natural development that is as undisturbed as possible by humans. Most of the existing German national parks are currently still “development national parks”. This means that they only partially fulfill the criteria of a national park. Over the next few decades, the majority of their area is to be developed into natural and dynamic natural processes in which human use is largely excluded.
In contrast, there is the protected area category of biosphere reserves. These protect large-scale, characteristic natural and cultural landscapes. They primarily serve to preserve, develop or restore a landscape characterized by traditional use and its diversity of species and biotopes. Parts of the Wadden Sea have also been designated as a biosphere reserve to enable sustainable management of the islands and Halligen and to make tourism compatible with nature.
Regulations also exist at European level to promote site protection in the member states. One example of this is the Natura 2000 system of protected areas, which focuses on the protection of certain habitats and individual wild animals and plants. In Schleswig-Holstein, around 765,000 hectares of marine area are covered by the interconnected network of protected areas.
Nature reserves are another instrument. In contrast to national parks, they are usually smaller and serve to protect certain species or habitats. Use can also be severely restricted here, although the extent of the restrictions varies greatly. Three new nature conservation areas with high protection status are currently being established as part of the Baltic Sea Protection 2030 action plan.
© Kunz
More protected areas needed
According to environmental reports, the lack of strictly protected marine areas, in which coastal species and their habitats are protected from any use or disturbance, is often one of the main reasons for their poor condition. In the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea, there are currently no such resting, retreat and regeneration areas.
In order to preserve and protect ecologically valuable natural areas, three marine nature reserves are currently being designated as part of the Baltic Sea Protection 2030 action plan. These are located at some distance from the beach on the seaward side in the areas from Geltinger Birk to the Schleim estuary, west of Fehmarn and in the southern Hohwachter Bucht. The areas were selected on the basis of studies on the state of the Baltic Sea, the occurrence of species and biocoenoses, the development potential and a conflict analysis with known uses.
In addition, a federal navigation ordinance - similar to the road traffic regulations - regulates when, how and where watercraft may enter protected areas. In this way, intact seagrass beds and reefs are preserved and migratory birds can rest undisturbed in our coastal waters.
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