Spain is now approaching 13% of its marine waters protected thanks to the declaration of the Cetacean Migration Corridor

Spain is already approaching 13% of its marine waters protected, above the 10% target set by the UN Convention on Biodiversity for 2020, a goal that we set ourselves in the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition.

We have achieved this milestone thanks to the approval by the Council of Ministers of the Royal Decree declaring the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor as a Marine Protected Area and proposing its inclusion in the List of Specially Protected Areas of Importance for the Mediterranean (SPIMA), within the framework of the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution. known as the Barcelona Convention.

The area that is protected is a strip of 46,385 km2 in surface area and about 85 km in average width, which runs between the Catalan and Valencian coasts, and the Balearic archipelago. These waters are of great ecological value and constitute a cetacean migration corridor that is essential for the survival of various species in the western Mediterranean, including the fin whale; the sperm whale; the bottlenose dolphin, striped and common; as well as deep-sea divers such as Cuvier’s beaked whale and pilot whale.

The declaration implies the taking of preventive measures to make the protection effective, such as a plan to reduce marine noise or the prohibition of new hydrocarbon prospecting.

These measures will be maintained until the approval of the corresponding management plan, which is planned to be drawn up within the framework of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project within a maximum period of three years from the moment this marine area is included in the SPIM List of the Barcelona Convention. To this end, participatory processes will be launched that will involve managers, agents and users of the sea.

Effective management of protected areas

LIFE IP INTEMARES, the largest marine environment conservation project in Europe, has as its main objective to achieve a network of Natura 2000 Network spaces, managed effectively, with the active participation of the sectors involved and with research as basic tools for decision-making.

The Ministry for Ecological Transition coordinates the 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, the Spanish Fisheries Confederation, SEO/BirdLife and WWF-Spain participate as partners. The project has the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE programme, as well as other sources of funding.

Do you want to know more about our actions at LIFE IP INTEMARES?

You can follow our twitter @FBiodiversidad and through the hashtag #Intemares, we keep you informad@ of all the news and performances. Shortly, in addition, all the information about the project will be available on a new website on which we are working. And to learn about the progress of what is the largest marine conservation project in Europe, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter through the following link:  link.