The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, together with the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, participates during the next 3 days, together with 35 experts from various governmental, technical and scientific entities from Spain and Portugal, in a meeting in the Azores where the first relevant product of the MISTICSEAS project will be discussed. It is a document on the initial evaluations carried out by both countries in relation to the Marine Strategies Framework Directive, identifying relevant aspects and shortcomings that allow this process to be improved in the future.
 
During this meeting, methodologies for monitoring the groups of species targeted by the project (cetaceans, birds and sea turtles) will also be discussed with the aim of establishing common monitoring programmes for the entire Macaronesian sub-region. These programs will be tested in the field thanks to a marine campaign that will be carried out in Madeira in June.
 
The MISTIC SEAS project aims to design a common methodology for the monitoring of marine biodiversity in the Macaronesia region, one of the most biodiverse areas in Europe, focusing on the populations of cetacean, turtle and seabird species and to establish a common roadmap to improve coordination in the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in Spain and Portugal (Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands).

The project, co-financed by the European Commission and implemented from December 2015 to February 2017, is coordinated by the Regional Fund for Science and Technology (Regional Government of the Azores) and has as partners the Regional Directorate of Foreign Affairs of the Sea (Regional Government of the Azores), the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources (Regional Government of Madeira), the General Directorate of Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services of the Government of Portugal, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment of Spain through the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, the Biodiversity Foundation, and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography.

The Biodiversity Foundation provides the scientific-technical teams for the monitoring of marine biodiversity, the coordination of awareness-raising actions, the establishment of cooperation networks and the preparation of the Joint Action Plan.