The AZTI Foundation has carried out a project that has identified new areas that can contribute to achieving a network of marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in the south-east Atlantic.

The AZTI Foundation has carried out a project that has made it possible to identify new areas that can contribute to achieving a consolidated network of marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in the south-east Atlantic. The initiative “Basic studies for the identification of marine areas to be protected within the framework of the Natura 2000 Network on the continental slope of the coast of the Basque Country” has had the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition through its 2017 call for grants. The actions implemented within the framework of the project have served, in addition to locating these new spaces that allow the network of marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in the south-east Atlantic, to draw up a management proposal that will be necessary for future proposals for Sites of Community Interest (SCI).

To achieve these objectives, the entity has carried out an inventory of environmental cartographic information and uses of the marine environment. The inventory incorporated available public cartographic information, which could be of relevance when carrying out an environmental characterization and the uses of the marine environment, aspects that are of great importance for the identification of areas of interest.

In addition, AZTI has integrated all this cartographic information to apply a mathematical algorithm called ‘Marxan’, an algorithm implemented in software that allows the user to define a series of conservation objectives. The system analyzes environmental and anthropic use information and, based on this data, tries to identify the areas that should be declared as protected areas to achieve conservation objectives, with minimal impact on uses.

Using integrated environmental information and marine uses and a functional algorithm, the entity identified seven conservation scenarios. This made it possible to determine which conservation proposals could be optimal based on the conservation objectives set.

Another activity carried out within the framework of the project was the realization of a complete balance, analyzing the results obtained in terms of compliance with the conservation objectives according to the areas currently declared and the results obtained after the application of the systematic conservation algorithm that defines a series of conservation objectives. These results were critically analyzed based on the data available.

The results of the project have been disseminated through different communication actions, both on the entity’s website and on social networks. In addition, they have been presented in scientific and technical forums and within the framework of a congress.

The initiative is part of the complementary projects to INTEMARES, the largest marine environment conservation project in Europe, since the entity has studied the following protected areas located in the southeastern area of the Bay of Biscay: San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Deba-Zumaia and the Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA) of the Mundaka Estuary – Cape Ogoño.