A New Rewilding Paradigm: NEBA-CA Case Study of an End-of-Life North Sea Oil Platform

Our new paper published in Annals of Limnology and Oceanography, “A New Rewilding Paradigm: NEBA-CA Case Study of an End-of-Life North Sea Oil Platform”, introduces the notion that decommissioned offshore installations can potentially be considered in the context of rewilding. Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration focused on restoring ecosystems to the point where nature can take care of itself with minimal human intervention.

Led by Dr Victoria Todd from Ocean Science Consulting, this study utilised incidentally collected Remotely Operated Vehicle imagery data to assess the ecological importance of a 34-year-old North Sea oil platform scheduled for decommissioning. We found 33 taxa, and determine that the taxonomic assemblage varied significantly with depth; for example, commercially important fish species were predominantly found below 70 m. The ecological findings from this study formed part of a Net Environmental Benefit Analysis Comparative-Assessment (NEBA-CA), which found that removing the platform would have negative environmental impacts, including reducing commercial fishing value by 60%. The NEBA-CA recommended leaving the platform in place, protected by a 500 m exclusion zone.

The presence of offshore structures provides hard substrate and creates new habitat. Where offshore structures are surrounded by exclusion zones, they can act as de facto marine protected areas (MPAs), which is particularly significant in areas such as the North Sea which are subject to intensive fishing activity. These structures therefore not only create new habitat but also provide protection for a range of marine life, including corals, endangered sharks, and commercially important fishes. The potential environmental, societal, and economic net benefits of offshore structures led us to conclude that these structures should be considered in the context of a rewilding paradigm.