Country information
Basic facts on marine waters
- Territorial Sea (12 NM): 10 178 km2
- Exclusive Economic Zone: 17 656 km2
Strategic documents related to MSP
Technical resources related to MSP
- MSP Annex 1. Uses of the Sea
- MSP Annex 2.Criteria for defining priority uses of the marine space
- MSP Annex 3. Interests of the neighboring states in the marine space
- Environmental assessment
- The ecosystem-based approach in MSP – The Latvian recipe
- Stakeholder consultation in the Latvian MSP process
- Towards coherent cross-border Maritime Spatial Planning in the Central Baltic Sea
- Determining permitted sea uses
- Pilot MSP for the western coast of Latvia
- Strategic scenarios for the use of the sea
Relevant MSP projects
- Capacity4MSP (2019-2022)
- Land-Sea-Act (2019-2021)
- Pan Baltic Scope (2018-2019)
- Baltic LINes – Coherent Linear Infrastructures in Baltic Maritime Spatial Plans (2016-2019)
- Baltic SCOPE (2015-2017)
- PartiSEApate – Multi-Level Governance in MSP throughout the Baltic Sea region (2012-2014)
- BaltSeaPlan – Introducing Maritime Spatial Planning in the Baltic Sea (2007-2013)
Overview of MSP related maritime uses
Current main uses:
| Aquaculture | Nature conservation |
| Cables and pipelines | Ports |
| Coastal protection | Shipping |
| Fisheries | Tourism and leisure |
| Military | Underwater cultural heritage |
Which marine spatial plans exist?
Name of the plan (year) |
Maritime Spatial Plan for the Marine Inland Waters, Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Waters of the Republic of Latvia until 2030 (2019) |
|---|---|
Scale of the plan |
National |
Pre-planning |
Status: Completed |
Assessment for planning |
Status: Completed |
Plan development |
Status: Completed |
Plan completion |
Status: Completed |
Plan approval |
Status: Completed |
Plan implementation |
Status: Underway |
Plan review |
Status: N/A |
National authority in charge of MSP |
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development |
Governmental funding |
N/A |
External funding |
N/A |
Public-private funding |
N/A |
Size of planning area |
27 834 km2 |
Time required to complete the planning document |
The planning document has been completed and is being implemented, the drafting process was initiated in 2014 and spanned 5 years until official approval in 2019 |
Main issued that led to the adoption of MSP (drivers) |
Conflicting interests between sectors such as environmental protection, energy production, fisheries, shipping, tourism and heritage protection |
Stakeholder engagement activities |
Each iteration of the Plan draft went through a phase of stakeholder engagement – suggestions and corrections were made by various institutions and organizations. Each comment was then reviewed in the due process. |
Sectors included in planning |
Transport, nature protection, defence, energy, foreign affairs, health, local and regional governance |
Articulation between MSP and coastal zone management |
MSP touches on the interaction between land and sea as many maritime functions require terrestrial infrastructure/logistics etc. |
Articulation between MSP and marine protected areas |
Marine protected areas are also recognized in the plan, additionally more areas where further research before assigning other uses should be done to determine whether or not there are natural values there that should further be protected. |
Articulation between MSP and sustainable blue economy |
References to and goal-setting for Blue Growth, however, the understanding of the difference between Blue Economy and Blue Growth has since been strengthened and focus is shifting to Sustainable Blue Economy |
Plan approval process |
The MSP is drafted and prepared by the ministry responsible for spatial planning, after the MSP has gone through the formal planning processes (drafting, environmental assessment, stakeholder engagement),once finalized, the MSP is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers |
Legal status of the plan (guiding or legally binding) |
Legally binding |
Plan review process |
The Ministry of Environmental Planning and Regional Development is set to complete 2 intermediate assessments of the Plan, one before 30 December 2023 and another before 30 December 2029. The assessment will focus on assessing the implementation progress of the plan and evaluate the necessity and form of any adjustments to the plan. |
Performance monitoring and evaluation |
The Ministry of Environmental Planning and Regional Development is set to complete 2 intermediate assessments of the Plan, one before 30 December 2023 and another before 30 December 2029. The assessment will focus on assessing the implementation progress of the plan and evaluate the necessity and form of any adjustments to the plan. |
Legal framework
MSP is regulated first and foremost by the Spatial Development Planning Law and Marine Environment Protection and Management Law, however, other legislation provides basis for the Plan – regulations and laws concerning building at sea, shipping and transport at sea, fishing, use of protected areas, energy sector licensing etc. A full list of laws and regulations stipulating MSP and marine processes can be found here under “Related documents” – “Other related documents”.
Legislative processes necessary to begin the development of several offshore wind parks are also in the process – for OWP “Rietumi” and Estonian-Latvian project ELWIND. Additionally, a new bill to reduce barriers to development of wind parks “Law on Simplified Procedures for the Construction of Wind Power Plants for Promotion of Energy Security and Independence” (unofficial translation) has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and is to proceed to Saeima.
Contact
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
Ingūna Draudiņa – Head of the Department of Spatial Planning and Land Management