The studies are part of the preparations for the statutory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be implemented before the authorities give the final go-ahead for the project.

The comprehensive EIA studies will provide an in-depth overview of the local nature, organisms and ecosystems in the region and thus form the basis  for a general assessment of the environmental impact from a fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt. The studies will also ensure that the link is constructed in an environmentally sound way.

A wide land corridor
During the spring, environmental consultants acting on behalf of Fehmern A/S will initiate field studies on land in order to make an inventory of the animals and plants in the area and identify its natural and scenic values.

The field studies will take place along a wide corridor east and west of Puttgarden and Rødbyhavn where the landworks will eventually be executed. On the island of Fehmarn, the corridor set aside for the environmental studies is about 7 km wide at the coastline and 5 km wide further inland. On Lolland, the area to be investigated is 14 km wide at the coast and approx. 7 km wide inland.

The corridor is relatively wide in order to enable biologists to identify the animals' movements through the landscape. Moreover, geographers and landscape architects will record cultural environments and landscape features such as burial mounds over a wider area in order for the link's design to be incorporated into the existing surroundings.

Within the corridor, environmentalists will examine all rivers, lakes, bogs, marshes, meadows, small woodlands and fallow land as well as areas near to cultivated fields and small plantations. Biologists will be searching for rare animals and plants which are strictly protected under international conventions, i.e. certain species of bats, frogs, insects, fungi, plants and birds.

On Lolland, biologists will identify species of duck with a device that enables the birds' movements to be tracked by satellite and radio. Radar will also be used to record bird migration in the area from equipment set up at the treatment plant at Rødbyhavn on Lolland and at the Scandlines site in Puttgarden on Fehmarn and at Deutscher Wetterdienst at Westermarkelsdorf.

Land-based field studies will be conducted by  Trüper Gondesen Partner and BioConsult SH in Germany and by COWI A/S and DHI in Denmark on behalf Femern A/S.

Marine studies
Femern A/S is also preparing a number of environmental investigations at sea, including an important study of the water flow through Fehmarnbelt. Environmentalists have recently placed marker buoys in preparation for the positioning of three automatic measuring buoys for recording water flow, salinity and temperature. Other measuring buoys will record water clarity in ten marine locations in the Fehmarnbelt.

Monthly sailings will be undertaken by the environmental vessel, “JHC Miljø” to measure water quality and plankton. Among the common plankton organisms are microscopic algae and water fleas, i.e. tiny crustaceans. Plankton is of great importance in that it represents the first  link in marine food chain.

During the winter, biologists began a count of wintering seabirds from the air and registering important feeding areas. During the autumn and winter, preliminary studies of spawning herring and eel migration took place. An inventory of seals and porpoises has also started and will be intensified during the spring.

The sea-based surveys are being conducted on behalf of Femern A/S by, among others, DHI, Orbicon and Copenhagen University from Denmark and by IOW (Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde) Marilim, Biola and IFAÖ (Institut für Angewendte Őkologie) from Germany.

Planning Act on track
The result of the environmental survey will be included in the EIA which will commence once the Danish Parliament has passed the Planning Act for the Fehmarnbelt link. This is expected to take place during the spring.

The environmental studies over the next few years and their results will be included in the final EIA report scheduled for 2011. The report's conclusions will form the basis for the final choice of alignment and the technical solution for the Fehmarnbelt link.

The fixed link across the Fehmarnbelt is expected to be commissioned in 2018.

For further information on the environmental studies, please contact
Environmental Manager Anders Jensen, Femern A/S, tel.: + 45 33 41 63 11