Green Antwerp

At the annual meeting of the International Association of Ports and Harbours in Los Angeles, Eddy Bruyninckx, CEO of Antwerp Port Authority, was presented with the bronze Environment Award. With its presentation ‘Creating Space for Port Development by Proactive Nature Management’, Antwerp was able to convince the jury of the important place given to proactive nature protection measures in the long term strategy for port development.

A considerable part of the Antwerp port area is subject to the EU Habitats directive and Birds directive. Under the terms of these directives, any loss of habitat due to industrial development must be offset by creating areas with the same ecological value. The Port Authority decided to adopt a planned, pro-active approach, collaborating with nature conservation societies to create a framework which offers guarantees of sustainable port development.