Baltic Sea National Park: Strategy meeting for water sports enthusiasts today - also available as a livestream

Björn Brüggemann, the initiator of the petition against spot closures on the Baltic Sea, has organised an information event in Kiel:

• 28 April 2023, 7 pm
• W8, Werftbahnstraße 8 in Kiel

The meeting will also be livestreamed on Björn's YouTube channel (start at 19:10):

The aim is to provide information on the current status of the consultation process for the Baltic Sea National Park and to align the strategy. "Our surfing and paddling spots can only be preserved if we give them a voice. Come to Kiel on 28 April and find out more!" says Brüggemann. His petition against spot closures received more than 17,000 signatures within just a few days and now has over 22,000.

surf will also take part in the meeting, all information will be available here on surf-magazin.de in the next few days!

The most important points on the status of the Baltic Sea National Park at a glance:

• There is still no decision on the establishment, but a proposal with the affected areas is available
• Stakeholders from tourism, sport, fishing and other sectors will soon be presenting their points of view in six workshops with 50 participants each
• This is followed by an interlocking workshop with five participants from each of the six workshops, where an overall picture is drawn up and presented to politicians
• Many different interests come together, no guarantee that the interests of water sports enthusiasts will be taken into account by petition alone
• In the planned information event for surfers, wingers and kiters, a strategy is to be developed together with Björn and the initiators of the petition

You can continue to support the petition here

These are the plans for a Baltic Sea National Park

Baltic Sea National Park: What's behind it

Tobias Goldschmidt has already presented initial plans for a "Baltic Sea National Park" in 2022. It is intended to connect the various nature and bird sanctuaries on the Baltic Sea and at the same time "deepen their protection", as the Green politician says - so that the Baltic Sea "will be better again in the future". This could entail massive restrictions for water sports, as part of a national park are so-called no-use zones in which water sports, shipping and fishing would be taboo.

In a national park, at least 50 per cent of the area would have to be left to nature - similar to the Wadden Sea National Park, which is around 300,000 hectares larger than the potential on the Baltic Sea. The ministry hopes that the new national park will provide "a real boost in attractiveness" for the Baltic Sea coast and "enormous opportunities for tourism and the economy", as Goldschmidt told the Schleswig-Holstein newspaper publisher.

The Ministry of the Environment provides information about the plans and the process here

Also interesting:

• Petition launched in favour of preserving the Baltic Sea spots
• The 10 best up-and-coming spots for windsurfers on the Baltic Sea
• Wind special:The east wind on the Baltic Sea