The LIFE Intemares project, which we coordinate from the Biodiversity Foundation, has been awarded for its innovative contribution to the 2030 Agenda in the Go! SDGs, convened by the Spanish Network of the Global Compact.

The Deputy Director General for the Protection of the Sea of the Directorate General of the Coast and the Sea, Itziar Martín, collected the award during a ceremony held in the auditorium of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, in which he was accompanied by representatives of all the partners of the project, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Spanish Fisheries Confederation, SEO/BirdLife, WWF Spain and the Ministry itself.  

This award recognises the project’s innovative contribution to SDG 17 to promote partnerships. Along these lines, LIFE Intemares is promoting a change in the marine management model and is laying the foundations to ensure that marine protected areas in Spain are managed in an innovative way, with science and participation as basic tools for decision-making.

In this framework, alliances are the engine that allows us to move towards this change in the marine management model. Since the start of the project in 2017, more than 4,500 people and 750 organisations have already been involved in it.

Among the most innovative actions, participatory processes have been promoted for the preparation of management plans for marine protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network and governance strategies and training of managers, as well as for conservation and recovery plans for species. A marine citizen science programme has been launched with the alliance of the main platform, Sea Observers, of the CSIC, with the aim of involving citizens in the better knowledge of our seas.

Coordination between administrations has also been strengthened through technical meetings and working groups to promote collaborative work between experts in species and habitat conservation.

Likewise, more than 200 projects have been carried out in line with the objectives of LIFE Intemares, integrating various European funds in their execution. This project, the largest in the field of marine conservation in Europe, has the contribution of the European Union’s LIFE programme and is complemented by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Social Fund, through the Pleamar and Empleaverde Programmes, and the calls for aid from the Biodiversity Foundation.