The main objective of the project is to carry out conservation studies of the coral Astroides calycularis that help to improve the planning and management of the SCI areas (Places of Community Interest) of Ceuta and Melilla.

The main objective of the project is to carry out conservation studies of the coral Astroides calycularis that help to improve the planning and management of the SCI areas (Places of Community Interest) of Ceuta and Melilla.

In this sense, documentation and study work will be carried out on the surface and deep communities of Astroides calycularis, to establish the ecological role in terms of their ability to increase spatial complexity and in relation to the concentration of biodiversity. The study will also deal with the production of detrital bottoms that this species is capable of developing. In this way, valuable data will be known about their natural survival rate and what factors, natural and anthropic, severely affect the conservation of their banks. The latter will also be key when it comes to dealing with the management and planning of the banks and populations of Astroides calycularis on the coasts of Ceuta and Melilla.

Within the framework of the initiative, informative activities will be carried out, including the preparation of a brochure with the main results obtained and the production of a short documentary in relation to the management and conservation of orange coral in the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Ceuta and Melilla. In this way, it will be possible to raise awareness among the population about the problem of the emblematic corals of the Mediterranean, as well as to facilitate access to information for groups interested in the subject who lack technical-scientific training.

The specific objectives are:

• To describe the ecological distribution of the banks of Astroides calycularis associated with the SCIs of Ceuta and Melilla.
• To establish its ecological role in terms of its colonization capacity, increase in the spatial complexity of the benthic environments where it develops and the contribution to the formation of detrital bottoms.
• Know their weaknesses in relation to their natural survival rate.
• To study the anthropic impacts that negatively affect populations within the EU protected environments in Ceuta and Melilla.
• To investigate its relationship with climate change and its usefulness as an indicator species of temperature increases in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Develop a programme for the conservation and management of SCI on the seabed protected by the EU, which makes recreational and fishing uses compatible with the continuity of their populations.

Planned activities include:

1. Scientific data collection and networking with various specialists.
2. Research work consisting of the temporal monitoring of certain banks, documentation and study of the surface and deep communities and the production of detrital bottoms.
3. Informative actions.
4. Preparation of the final report and the impact matrix.
5. Integration of the results obtained in the GIS (Geographic Information System).