The law of 13 June 1969 defines “Belgian Continental Shelf” as follows: the seabed and the subsoil of the marine areas adjacent to the Belgian coast but beyond the Belgian territorial sea.

Beach Litter count data collected across 10 beaches of the Belgian coast in 2023 and 2024 by volunteers of the citizen science association Proper Strand Lopers. One of the key indicators of abundance, composition and trends of litter in the marine environment is the amount on beaches. OSPAR monitors litter on 100m stretches at over 70 beaches in the North-East Atlantic following common monitoring guidelines. The monitoring records litter in 112 predefined litter items in 11 types: Plastic / polystyrene, Metal, Paper and cardboard, Wood, Sanitary waste, Cloth, Rubber, Glass, Pottery/ceramics, Medical waste and Faeces.

This dataset represents the location of the Princess Elizabeth zone in the Belgian Part of the North Sea as described in the Royal Decree of May 22th, 2019, establishing a marine spatial plan for the period 2020-2026. Art. 8. § 3.

This dataset represents main data about the cores of Belgian boreholes that are stored by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Data is distributed as shapefile with multiple meta-infomations such as unique borehole reference, depth, location, lithology and a link to access the core and lithological descriptions.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 1 coastal protection experiments zone: Zone for coastal protection experiments (Art. 16§2). It replaces the 2014 Marine Spatial Plan, which is included for completeness. The Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing a marine spatial plan defines in its Art. 12. §1 one zone for coastal protection experiments. This zone is made available digitally in the resource described by this metadata document. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 20 March 2026 establishing a marine spatial plan defines Seabed Integrity Zone_Top Art. 10. § 1.1°, Seabed Integrity Zone_Middle Art. 10. § 1.2°, Seabed Integrity Zone_Bottom Art. 10. § 1.3°, RAMSAR Art. 11, Zone with Ban on Bottom-Disturbing Recreational Fishing Art. 24. § 2, Flemish Banks Art. 8. § 1, Raan Flat Art. 8. § 3, SBZ1 Art. 8. § 5.1°, SBZ2 Art. 8. § 5.2°, SBZ3 Art. 8. § 5.3°, Marine Reserve_Top Art. 9. § 1.1°, Marine Reserve_Middle 2a Art. 9. § 1.2°, Marine Reserve_Middle 2b Art. 9. § 2, Marine Reserve_Bottom Art. 9. § 3 Please refer to the Belgian official gazette ("Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 20 March 2026 establishing a marine spatial plan defines Shipping Routes_IMO Art. 14. § 2, Shipping_IMO Zones Art. 14. § 2, Separation Systems Art. 14. § 2, Other Routes and Currents KB Art. 14. § 2, Other Routes and Currents Non-KB Art. 14. § 2, Separation Line At Westhinder Art. 14. § 2.4°, Area to Avoid Art. 14. § 2.6°, Anchorage Area Oostdyck Art. 14. § 3.1°, Anchorage Area At Westhinder Art. 14. § 3.2°, Maritime Safety Research Zones - zone 1 Art. 14. § 5.1°, Maritime Safety Research Zones - zone 2 Art. 14. § 5.2°, Maritime Safety Research Zones - zone 3 Art. 14. § 5.3° Please refer to the Belgian official gazette ("Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 20 March 2026 establishing a marine spatial plan defines Protected Shipwrecks Art. 26. § 1 Please refer to the Belgian official gazette ("Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 5 commercial and industrial zones: Zone A for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone B for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone C for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone D for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone E for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1). Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 20 March 2026 establishing a marine spatial plan defines Coastal Protection Strip Art. 20. § 2 Please refer to the Belgian official gazette ("Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad") for official reference information.