Plan ‘to balance opportunity with Guernsey’s marine environment’
December 15, 2025
Marine plan ‘to balance opportunity and nature’
BBCA plan which aims to balance economic opportunities with protection of Guernsey’s marine environment is due to be made public next year.
The island’s first Marine Spatial Plan (MSP) is due to go to public consultation.
The Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure said islanders’ views would be considered alongside scientific evidence.
MSPs have already been adopted in other places, including Jersey, with some experts describing them as crucial for climate resilience and understanding the impact of offshore wind projects.
Deputy Sally Rochester, vice president of Environment & Infrastructure, said community insight would play a central role in shaping the draft plan.
She said the creation of a plan was first mentioned in the climate policy the States agreed in 2020.
Rochester said since then work had been done “to understand our waters better, to gather evidence and data to explore what we have and what we don’t have”.
She said: “Ninety percent of Guernsey’s territory is water and we don’t know that much about it.”
Nikki Harris, who leads the marine biology section at La Société Guernesiaise, said Guernsey was “one of the few regions in Europe that hasn’t started or has only just started the process” of developing a MSP.
She described the plan as a forward-looking opportunity to help forecast environmental changes and integrate protections for Guernsey’s marine ecosystems.
“Without this plan, we fail to prepare for climate change, biodiversity shifts, and socio-economic impacts,” Harris said.
“It will also affect our ability to meet international obligations, which could impact trade.”
She said all sea users, from fishers to recreational swimmers, should contribute to the consultation.
“We want to understand how people use these spaces and what they want for the future,” she said.
Deputy Chris Blin, chair of Guernsey’s Offshore Wind Delivery Board, said the MSP was crucial for Guernsey’s ambitions for renewable energy and would underpin any future strategies for building offshore wind farms.
He said: “The MSP sends a strong message to developers that Guernsey is looking at this strategically, that we’re open for business, and that we want to protect our environment.”
ReutersHe said the MSP was key as offshore wind project would not be funded by taxpayers, but by external investment.
Blin said the project’s primary goal was to export energy creating significant economic opportunities for decades to come: “This isn’t a quick win, it’s a mid to long term opportunity, but the returns will be huge.”
He acknowledged a revenue-generating wind farm off Guernsey’s coast within a decade was ambitious and said the groundwork was being laid now.
“When is the best time to plant a forest, 20 years ago or today? We’ve started today,” he said.
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