In this second year of the project, we are already immersed in the oceanographic campaigns that will allow us to investigate the existing values in potential new sites of the Natura 2000 Network.

We are embarking on the second year of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, the largest marine conservation project in Europe, and we are doing so by putting all our efforts into fostering participation and research to achieve one of the main objectives of this ambitious initiative, to effectively manage our Natura 2000 Network in the marine environment.

To achieve this, the management committee met today, our fifth meeting in just one year, to design the actions that will have us focused on this end for the first six months of 2018. These initiatives include the participatory processes that we are going to implement to develop management plans in various marine protected areas.  

The first to arrive will be the marine Sites of Community Importance (SCI) on the coasts of Tarragona, Castellón, Alicante and Murcia with the aim of approving their management plans and that we manage to turn them into Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).  

We have also already started the participatory process for the identification of coordinated planning, management and monitoring measures for the Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain (RAMPE). Between today and tomorrow, various experts share their knowledge in a seminar to advance a coherent and efficient network of marine protected areas.

In addition, we are working on the development of governance and training strategies, instruments that will promote more inclusive models in the management of marine spaces.

Exploring our seas and our challenges

In this second year of the project, we are already immersed in the oceanographic campaigns that will allow us to investigate the existing values in potential new sites of the Natura 2000 Network. The first of these has begun on board the Ramón Margalef ship of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, with the aim of exploring and mapping the Cabo Tiñoso area, which is home to underwater canyons, mountains and pockmarks.  

Among the challenges we face in these beginnings, in addition to research and participation, are conservation and awareness-raising, two key factors to achieve success in our work in the short and long term.  

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment coordinates the LIFE IP INTEMARES project through the Biodiversity Foundation, and acts as a partner through the Directorate General for Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea. The Spanish Institute of Oceanography, WWF-Spain, SEO/BirdLife and the Spanish Fisheries Confederation participate as partners.

Do you want to know more about our marine projects?

Soon you will have all the information about the project on the new website we are working on. In the meantime, you can follow our twitter @FBiodiversidad where through the hashtag #Intemares, we keep you informad@ of all the news and performances.

You can also subscribe to our newsletter through the following link, and thus follow in detail the course of the largest marine conservation project in Europe: http://fundacion-biodiversidad.es/es/prensa/boletines/704