The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), through the Biodiversity Foundation, has presented the progress of the marine citizen science programme, which it is developing together with the Sea Observers initiative, of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The results were announced during the conference “With a view to the Sea”, organised by the Marilles Foundation in Palma de Mallorca.
The director of the LIFE INTEMARES project and deputy director of biodiversity and climate change of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ignacio Torres, has participated via telematics in an event that has had the participation of the Minister of the Environment and Territory of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Miquel Mir, and representatives of the Institute of Sea Sciences of the CSIC. IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), the Marilles Foundation, GEN-GOB and the University of the Balearic Islands.
The MITECO Biodiversity Foundation maintains an alliance with Observadores del Mar, a citizen science platform coordinated by the CSIC, through the LIFE INTEMARES project. Thanks to this collaboration, 14 scientific projects have already been developed on protected species and habitats or impacts on biodiversity, such as marine litter or global warming, among others. These projects have been led by more than 50 researchers, with the focus on monitoring the state of the sea and the generation of knowledge for management, with the involvement of citizens. Currently, the initiative has 2,796 observers and 264 different entities, which have reported 12,852 observations, relevant data in the marine environment, where citizen science is incipient.
Observadores del Mar is a benchmark in marine citizen science in the Levantine-Balearic demarcation and, thanks to the LIFE INTEMARES project, the extension of the programme to the other four marine demarcations has been promoted: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Canary Islands and the Strait and Alboran.
In addition, this initiative seeks to strengthen the research network made up of citizens, the scientific community and other key local actors, with the aim that the scientific knowledge generated can be transferred to the management of marine protected areas. The activities carried out also contribute to raising awareness about the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean.
COMMITMENT TO SCIENCE AND PARTICIPATION
MITECO is committed to citizen science as a participatory tool that allows society to get involved in nature conservation and generate scientific knowledge. Thanks to the Biodiversity Foundation’s calls for grants, since 2018 16 citizen science projects developed by various entities have been supported, of which 11 are linked to the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity and five are aimed at the marine environment, with a total budget of more than 1,175,000 euros.
In addition, the Biodiversity Foundation coordinates its own projects, including LIFE INTEMARES, which has involved more than 7,700 people and 800 organizations with the main objective of achieving a change of model that allows effective management of marine protected areas, taking science and participation as basic tools for decision-making.
To this end, initiatives linked to research and knowledge have been launched; conservation; monitoring and surveillance; governance and training, as well as communication and awareness-raising. Among these actions, those carried out in the Balearic archipelago were highlighted today, in cooperation with the Government of the Balearic Islands, scientific institutions and organizations involved in marine conservation.
Specifically, oceanographic campaigns have been carried out to improve the scientific knowledge of the seamounts of the Mallorca Channel for their possible declaration as a new protected marine area. Projects have also been promoted to strengthen the protection of species such as the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), the most endangered seabird in Europe.
The LIFE INTEMARES project is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification of the Ministry itself participates as partners; the Spanish Institute of Oceanography; the Spanish Fisheries Confederation; SEO/BirdLife and WWF Spain. It has the financial contribution of the LIFE program of the European Union.
