Ongoing technical activities and conservation measures in maritime spatial planning within Polish marine areas

This paper presents an overview of ongoing and planned technical developments and their impact in Polish Marine Areas versus nature conservation measures. Relevant information has been collected through the national contacts, through the screening of available environmental impact assessments (EIA), and from the authors’ own experiences. We indicate growing environmental pressures from the new technical installations while some environmental effects are not well understood. We also point out that there is not sufficient knowledge about environmental effects of new large-scale installations (particularly regarding wind power parks, pipelines, and some coastal structures). We recognize potential conflicts with existing traditional activities (such as shipping and fishing) with planned new developments (such as wind farms and some coastal structures) and with the established protection measures (such as HELCOM BSPA and NATURA 2000 areas). Finally, we offer suggestions that should be useful in maritime spatial planning.