Ecosystem services spatially linked to environmental and socio-economic stakes in the context of offshore wind farm development

Résumé En

By modifying ecosystems, landscapes and the spatialization of human activities, offshore wind farms act as a major changing factor of coastal socio-ecosystems. As new fixed infrastructures in a perpetually dynamic environment, offshore wind turbines also pose serious maritime planning challenges. These issues raise questions: how can the development of offshore wind energy be reconciled with the maintenance of existing human activities? How can the impact of offshore wind farms on socio-ecosystems be spatialised, and at what scale(s)?In response, we hypothesize that the concept of ecosystem services is an interdisciplinary tool that helps to spatialise the issues at stake in the context of offshore wind energy. The aim of this contribution is therefore to propose a theoretical mapping of the impacts of offshore wind farms on ecosystem services. The approach is based on a literature review, field surveys and working groups with researchers from different disciplines to specify the supply and demand areas of various ecosystem services. On this basis, spatial changes related to offshore wind farm development are examined in two study areas in France (“Banc de Guérande” and “Calvados” projects).The comparative analysis highlights how offshore wind energy is reshaping users' relationships with the sea and revealing the specific local features of the studied offshore wind socio-ecosystems. Such an approach illustrates the importance of integrated maritime planning of offshore wind farms that consider the “multi-services”, the multi-scales of analysis and consider all the ecosystem and societal processes that link offshore wind farms to society.