The LIFE ECOREST project, which has among its partners the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, starts with the aim of restoring 29,022 ha of deep marine habitats in Catalonia.

The LIFE ECOREST project, which has among its partners the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, starts with the aim of restoring 29,022 ha of deep marine habitats in Catalonia in an area of action of great ecological value located along the coast of Girona and Barcelona.

This initiative, coordinated by the ICM-CSIC, also has as partners the Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds of Girona, the University of Barcelona and WWF, as well as the financial contribution of the LIFE Program of the European Union.

In the area of action of the project, it is estimated that more than 90% of the seabed between 50 and 800 meters deep shows signs of degradation, which hinders the regeneration of natural resources. This area is considered a point of great ecological importance due to the high concentration of endangered, threatened or vulnerable species, including corals and gorgonians.

For this reason, the LIFE ECOREST project will promote until 2026 a programme of actions to try to improve the conservation status of benthic habitats and demonstrate the effectiveness of participatory management of the fisheries sector. Specifically, active restoration strategies, successfully implemented in previous projects, will be carried out.

The more than 29,000 hectares that are planned to be restored are distributed in 14 fishing protection areas along the coast of Girona and Barcelona. Six of the areas of action of the project are permanent closed zones and the rest of the areas have a temporary fishing restriction that has been agreed between the fishermen’s associations, the scientific community and the Spanish fisheries administration.

PARTICIPATION AND GOVERNANCE

Among the actions of the project, the participatory management of the fishing sector will be promoted, spaces for dialogue will be facilitated, governance mechanisms will be strengthened and the population will be made aware of the importance of conserving deep marine habitats. Likewise, the restoration and governance schemes will be replicated in other fishing areas and the results and active conservation measures will be transferred to other areas of the Mediterranean that are in similar situations.

LIFE ECOREST is aligned with the objectives and goals of the Spanish Strategy for Green Infrastructure, Connectivity and Ecological Restoration, a fundamental planning tool to identify, conserve and recover damaged ecosystems throughout the Spanish territory and connect them with each other.