Eko Marina III – Inventory, mapping and environmental support for Sweden’s recreational marinas

Eko Marina III is the third part of a project which began in October 2019, with the overarching aim of exploring the possibilities for developing eco-labelling for Swedish marinas that could decrease their negative environmental impact. This part of the project has focused on three primary tasks: 1. To produce an extensive inventory of Sweden’s recreational marinas, 2. To map the marinas’ structures, with the aim of better understanding their functions, opportunities and limitations, and 3. To begin the development of a digital tool which can include an eco-label index whilst also comprising a support platform for marinas in their work towards sustainable conversion. The inventory resulted in 2,654 marinas being identified. The previous assumption was that there were approximately 1,500 marinas in Sweden, which has thus been proven to be a significant underestimation. Although hidden statistics are likely to remain, the inventory results could be valuable for future research projects aiming to explore the environmental impact of recreational marinas. The inventory showed that 213 municipalities in Sweden have marinas within their municipal borders. Seventy-five percent of the 2,654 marinas are in municipalities with a sea coast and 25% are in municipalities with lake coastlines only.

The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management commissioned the translation of this report on eco marinas from Swedish to English.