Environmental compensation for port extension : the case of Rotterdam harbor and nature compensation, policy and practice

The port of Rotterdam recently built a large extension, Maasvlakte 2. It was built in an area with valuable coastal ecosystems belonging to the EU Natura 2000 network of European conservation areas. The construction and use of Maasvlakte 2 causes considerable damage to existing Natura 2000 sites. According to EU regulations this damage should be compensated by creating new nature. In the case of Rotterdam, the compensation was twofold: a marine and a terrestrial part. The paper describes the design and the actual lay-out of the compensation works. It also reports on the monitoring that is ongoing to assess the damage to existing nature and the quality of the new (compensated) nature.