With a new political agreement, the government, along with the Radical Left (De Radikale), Socialist People’s Party (SF), The Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), and The Conservative People’s Party (De Konservative), has allocated 500 million Danish kroner for the restoration of Danish marine nature by 2030. This was announced by Minister for the Environment Magnus Heunicke (S) on Thursday during a presentation at the Ministry of the Environment.
The agreement entails mapping the Danish marine area and restoring specific areas such as Taarbek Reef and the reef in the Great Belt already by 2024. Heunicke emphasized at the press conference the need to restore habitats in the sea and protect far more areas to halt decades of destruction. Part of the effort includes the development of a “tool catalogue” with the latest knowledge on marine nature restoration and the development of “digital infrastructure for marine environment data and analysis of cumulative impacts on the ecosystem.”
The half billion kroner allocated to the new marine nature fund comes from the Green Fund, which was decided earlier this year. The agreement on the establishment of this fund has now been finalized.
In recent years, there has been significant attention on the poor condition of the Danish waters, which have suffered from high levels of hypoxia among other issues. Last year, the worst hypoxia in two decades was reported, with serious consequences for marine life. For example, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Miljøstyrelsen) has assessed that hypoxia in June led to dead fish and lobsters in Limfjorden.
Minister for the Environment Magnus Heunicke has previously faced criticism from several parties for his efforts in this area, but with the new agreement, significant funds have now been allocated to improve the marine environment. Heunicke has emphasized the importance of taking new measures to address the alarming conditions he described in 2023.
“The aquatic environment will not be saved overnight. It takes time,” he stated in a press release from the Ministry of the Environment.