We have shared the basic lines of the governance strategy in the third Social Participation Committee of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, held in Bilbao.

Managers and economic and social agents have laid the foundations of the governance strategy, which will establish the mechanisms to achieve effective management of the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network. We have shared these basic lines of the governance strategy in the third Social Participation Committee of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, held in Bilbao.

The meeting, organised by the Directorate General for Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Biodiversity Foundation and WWF-Spain, brought together representatives of the autonomous communities of the Basque Country, Galicia, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Cantabria and Andalusia. Key sectors have also participated, including professional fishing, marine energy, the nautical and aquaculture sector, conservation organizations and the scientific community.

The General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea has underlined the importance of continuing to move towards more inclusive and participatory models in the management of marine protected areas “governing not only for the people but, above all, with the people”.

For her part, the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, pointed out that, through the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, “We already have a
a large number of allies to achieve a new management model in which participation and science are the basic tools for decision-making”. To date, more than 550 entities and 2,400 participants have already been involved in the project.

PARTICIPATORY PROCESS

The committee meeting in Bilbao has analysed the bases of the governance strategy, a tool that has been designed, in collaboration with the University of
Murcia and the sustainability cooperative Altekio, through a participatory process initiated in April 2018 through a prior public consultation, surveys, interviews with key stakeholders and six face-to-face workshops.

More than 300 participants from all marine demarcations have been involved in its preparation. This process has been launched with the aim of achieving a shared action strategy, at the national level, which establishes a basis for adequate governance and that has continuity with the application of pilot experiences in various marine protected areas, which will be carried out until 2024.

The document shared today analyzes the criteria for the evaluation of governance in marine protected areas, its efficiency and mechanisms for
management.

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