More than 700 organisations and thousands of people have already joined the LIFE IP INTEMARES project with the aim of achieving effective management of marine protected areas together. On World Oceans Day, it is important to highlight the integration of social agents in the battery of actions that are being carried out in the marine areas of the largest network of protected areas in the world, the Natura 2000 Network. Specifically, more than a dozen participatory processes have been initiated to actively involve socio-economic sectors and citizens in the development of management plans that make uses and activities compatible with the conservation of natural values in marine protected areas.

An example of this is the participatory workshops that have been held since May in the Canary Islands to update the management plans of 24 marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). This phase will conclude with workshops in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura at the end of June and in Gran Canaria at the beginning of July.

Along these lines, the first steps have also been taken towards the preparation of the management plans for the El Cachucho Marine Protected Area and 12 areas of the Natura 2000 Network under the jurisdiction of the General State Administration off the coast of the Levant, as well as the 46 Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) distributed throughout all the demarcations.

Participatory processes have also been carried out for the preparation of the future master plan of the Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain (RAMPE), as well as training and governance strategies, which will establish the mechanisms to move towards more inclusive and participatory models in the management of marine protected areas. Highlighting the conservation of our seas and the importance of citizen participation is one of the objectives of the Environmental Volunteering Programme, in which more than 3,600 volunteers have already been involved in all marine demarcations. Tomorrow, June 9, the entity GOB Mallorca organizes an activity to remove waste from the beach of Tirant in Menorca, within the framework of the LIFE IP INTEMARES.

In addition to social participation, science is a fundamental pillar to achieve effective management of marine protected areas and progress continues in oceanographic research. A new campaign will sail our seas at the end of June. The Ramón Margalef ship will set sail from Santander to investigate the depths of the Cap Bretón canyon, in the Cantabrian Sea, with the aim of improving knowledge of this area and obtaining a solid scientific basis that allows the declaration of this protected area.