- This plan aims to ensure that the Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain, created in 2010, is ecologically representative, is well connected and ensures the compatibility of the activities carried out in these areas with their conservation
- “A network of marine protected areas capable of meeting the objectives of recovering natural heritage and biodiversity will contribute to achieving an ocean that is more resilient to climate change,” said Vice-President Teresa Ribera
- The Government also approves the Common Minimum Criteria for the effective, coherent and coordinated management of this Network
December 27, 2022- The Council of Ministers has today approved, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Master Plan of the Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain (RAMPE) and the Common Minimum Criteria for its management. This plan is developed with the dual objective of facilitating the operation of the RAMPE, created in 2010, and building a network capable of providing added value to the spaces that are part of it in terms of conservation and recovery of natural heritage and biodiversity.
“A network of marine protected areas capable of meeting these objectives will contribute to achieving an ocean that is more resilient to climate change,” said Vice-President Teresa Ribera. This plan is aligned with the laws on natural heritage and biodiversity and protection of the marine environment, as well as with maritime spatial planning regulations and European directives.
AN ECOLOGICALLY REPRESENTATIVE AND WELL-CONNECTED NETWORK
This plan aims to promote an ecologically representative and well-connected network, which contributes to the favourable conservation of its species, habitats and ecosystems, and ensures the compatibility of the uses and activities carried out in these spaces with conservation objectives.
To this end, and among other measures, potential ecological and connectivity corridors will be analysed, either by marine demarcation or on a regional and global scale. Pilot projects will also be developed for the adaptation of fishing gear or the interactions and impact of both fishing and non-fishing activities (recreational and tourism, anchoring and navigation, port activities, aquaculture, renewable energies, dumping or extraction of sand and other minerals), among others, will be evaluated.
COORDINATION, TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION
Likewise, the Master Plan will ensure the deployment of planning instruments for all marine protected areas of the Network and will promote a harmonised zoning system based on a series of recommendations that must be drawn up in accordance with the European Union’s Biodiversity Strategy between now and 2030.
The Plan will also strengthen the management and coordination bodies between administrations through bilateral or multilateral mechanisms, such as the marine biodiversity working group within the Interministerial Commission on Marine Strategies, thus building a solid governance structure based on transparency and participation.
On the other hand, it seeks to promote the exchange of information and the transfer of knowledge through training and awareness-raising actions.
PERIODIC EVALUATION SYSTEM AND NEW SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
It will also strengthen the mechanisms for compliance with the regulations through collaboration between administrations for the coordinated and shared use of surveillance means, as well as the monitoring of actions: the management instruments will have a system of periodic evaluation of their results, based on objective and quantifiable indicators that allow the degree of compliance to be assessed.
The plan also establishes the creation of a Scientific Committee that will function as an advisory body to the Directorate-General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification of the (MITECO) and Sustainable Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture), and for the autonomous communities when they so request.
COMMON CRITERIA FOR THE VARIOUS SPACES OF THE NETWORK
The guidelines contained in the Master Plan are based on the best available scientific knowledge and guide their application at the scale of each marine protected area that voluntarily joins the RAMPE. They thus constitute a common denominator of the great diversity of marine protected areas that make up the Network.
The development of measures for the control and eradication of invasive alien species stands out. Special attention is also paid to species under special protection and/or threatened, and to the most vulnerable, threatened or declining habitats, according to the OSPAR convention or the Spanish Catalogue of Habitats in Danger of Disappearing.
The marine protected areas incorporated into the RAMPE must be classified according to their management objectives, so that they are internationally homologated, ascribing to at least one of the management categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In protected areas where fishing is compatible, it will be regulated in such a way as to ensure its compatibility with conservation objectives, its persistence over time and the maintenance of the cultural values it represents.
Along the same lines, the plans, projects and activities carried out in the RAMPE areas must guarantee that they will not lead to the deterioration of natural habitats and species, as well as that there will be no alterations that have an impact on the natural values that have led to the designation of these spaces.
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT IN LINE WITH CLIMATE SCENARIOS
The objectives of the RAMPE should be considered both in maritime spatial planning plans and in other sectoral policies with an impact on the marine environment. In turn, the management of the RAMPE spaces will integrate the new scenarios derived from climate change, considering adaptation criteria to its effects in the design of actions.
Both the preparation of the Master Plan and the definition of the Common Minimum Management Criteria have been designed within the framework of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project (“Integrated, innovative and participatory management of the Natura 2000 Network in the Spanish marine environment”) and in a participatory manner with the Autonomous Communities and economic and social agents. The Common Minimum Criteria have also been approved by the Sectoral Conference on the Environment.
SPAIN’S INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS
In recent years, the protection of the sea has acquired a growing relevance throughout the world, associated with the greater sensitivity of governments and citizens to the progressive deterioration of the marine environment, which has been reflected in the adoption of agreements, conventions and standards at international, regional and state levels.
Among the international commitments undertaken by Spain, those derived from the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) stand out, especially the Strategic Plan for Biological Diversity 2011-2020, which includes the well-known “Aichi targets”. Specifically, target 11 establishes that by 2020 at least 10% of the marine and coastal areas of greatest ecological value should be protected, a target that can be considered exceeded in the Spanish territorial sea as a whole.
It also highlights the commitment made to comply with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that comprise it, with special reference to SDG 14 “Life Below Water”.
In addition, among the objectives of the European Union’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 that our country has supported is the protection of 30% of the Union’s marine area by 2030, in line with the objective of the new global framework for Biodiversity approved on 19 December at COP15 on Biodiversity. in Montreal.
