The Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the Directorate General for Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, has promoted a participatory process to update the management plans of 24 marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in the Canary Islands. This process has begun with a period of prior public consultation, open until April 5.

This action, framed in the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, seeks to involve socio-economic sectors and citizens in a debate on the needs of each SAC, as well as to identify appropriate measures that make it possible to make the uses and activities carried out in these protected marine areas compatible with the conservation of natural values.

In a second phase, scheduled between the months of May and July, nine face-to-face participatory workshops will be held on all the islands. The design of this process has the collaboration of WWF-Spain and the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), partners of LIFE IP INTEMARES, as well as the support of the Government of the Canary Islands. Finally, and on the basis of a draft of the new management plan for each space, the hearing and public information process will be carried out, prior to the publication of the final regulations in the BOE.

These 24 areas have species of community interest of both marine reptiles, such as the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas), as well as cetaceans, including the pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and grey dolphin (Grampus griseus), the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), skipjack (Stenella coeruleoalba) and spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis).

Likewise, we also find very characteristic species such as the angelshark (Squatina squatina), which is currently critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In its waters, you can also observe habitats of great natural interest such as sandbanks, reefs and sea caves, among other habitats.

Due to the need to guarantee the protection of these spaces, in 2011 the 24 Sites of Community Interest (SCI) were declared Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and the corresponding conservation measures and regulation of uses and activities were approved. At the moment, we are in the process of updating the management plans, which are valid for six years, extendable if the regulations are not renewed.

LIFE IP INTERNARES

The LIFE IP INTEMARES project aims to achieve a network of marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network managed in an effective and integrated way, with the active participation of the sectors involved and research as basic tools for decision-making.

The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition coordinates the project. The General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea of the same ministry, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Spanish Fisheries Confederation, SEO/BirdLife and WWF-Spain participate as partners.