MARITIME SPATIAL PLAN OF BULGARIA FOR THE PERIOD 2021-2035

In accordance with Directive 2014/89 /EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014. to establish a maritime spatial planning framework, each EU Member State must submit an approved National Maritime Spatial Plan by 31 March 2021 at the latest. This plan aims to integrate environmental, economic and social aspects of development, to create the preconditions for optimizing land-sea and sea-land interactions, to coordinate the development of sectors in maritime spaces with the territorial development of the country. Maritime Spatial Planning is a founding document for the implementation of the Integrated Maritime Policy and will facilitate the collection and updating of available information, identify existing problems and needs, outline specific measures and link strategic and specific objectives to development priorities.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works started the development of the MARITIME SPATIAL PLAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA FOR THE PERIOD 2021-2035 with EC funding. In this regard, the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities (UBBSLA), as a main stakeholder engaged in the protection of the marine environment, efficient and conflict-free use of marine resources and the sustainable development of the Bulgarian maritime territories in the Black Sea, was invited to participate in a study with the aim of supporting the work on the development of the Maritime Spatial Plan of our country.

Here, we share some of the points from the research and opinion of our consultant, Mr. Boyan Savov, who is engaged in a large number of UBBSLA projects aimed at improving the status of our coastline and developing activities. One of these projects is the recently completed “HERMES – A HarmonizEd FRamework To Mitigate Coastal EroSion Promoting ICZM Protocol Implementation”, supported within the “Balkan-Mediterranean 2014-2020”. In the frame of the project an Oceanographic Station (HERMES BG1) was installed around the Gulf of Varna. The Oceanographic Station makes wind and wave forecasts and has a very wide range of potential users in the maritime sector. The installation of the station allowed the tuning of a forecast model for the respective adjacent water area, thus ensuring the maximum reliability and accuracy of the forecasts of the sea waves.

 

Mr. Boyan Savov shared his opinion here: www.ubbsla.org/maritime-spatial-plan