The Biodiversity Foundation celebrates the declaration by MAPAMA (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment) of 39 Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) in Spanish marine waters. The Biodiversity Foundation celebrates the declaration by MAPAMA (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment) of 39 Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) in Spanish marine waters.
 
Of these 39 SPA areas, 8 are located within the North Atlantic marine demarcation, 3 in the South Atlantic marine demarcation, 3 in the Strait and Alboran marine demarcation, 14 in the Levantine-Balearic marine demarcation, and 11 in the Canary Islands demarcation, which represents around 4.9 million marine hectares included in the Natura 2000 Network.
 
The 39 designated zones include feeding areas at sea, areas adjacent to major breeding colonies, resting areas at sea, or the main marine migratory corridors for these species. These are exclusively marine areas, where the conjunction of one or more of these factors makes their protection essential for their survival.
 
In order to comply with the obligations established in EU regulations and state legislation regarding the declaration of new marine Natura 2000 Network sites, MAPAMA participated together with SEO/BirdLife in the LIFE+ project “Important Areas for Marine Birds (IBA) in Spain” (2004-2009), which resulted in the publication of a compendium of areas proposed for their high value for seabirds and laid the foundations for the future declaration of marine SPAs in Spain.
 
Within the framework of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project “Inventory and designation of the Natura 2000 Network in marine areas of the Spanish State” (2009-2014), coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, in addition to obtaining new data that have corroborated the importance of these areas, the scientific basis on which the proposal is based has been consolidated, and the foundations have been laid for the future management of the 39 SPAs.
 
Based on the scientific information generated in the aforementioned European projects, the observations and comments received during the public participation process, and the work and collaboration of different units of the MAGRAMA, other Ministries and the rest of the administrations -both regional and local-, the aforementioned ministerial order has been drawn up, which constitutes a fundamental advance in the development of the Natura 2000 Network in the marine field in Spain.
 
 
Photo: Balearic shearwater. Author: Juan Bécares