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Nautical crossing of the LIFE A-MAR project in the Valencian Community
12 May-09:00h. - 13 May-13:00h.
On May 12 and 13, the planned stopovers will take place in the Valencian Community within the framework of the nautical crossing that is touring more than 10 marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in the Mediterranean to raise awareness of the benefits and opportunities of these places.
The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), in coordination with the Directorate General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification and the autonomous communities involved, is launching this information campaign within the framework of the European project LIFE A-MAR, Knowing and loving the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network to protect them, coordinated by the Italian Federation of Parks and Nature Reserves (Federparchi), and which is being developed in parallel in Italy and Spain. It has the financial contribution of the LIFE Program of the European Union
The campaign will reach the coasts of the Region of Murcia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia until June 6. At each of the eight stops that will take place, guided tours and participatory sessions will be carried out with socio-economic agents and the local population.
The largest network of protected areas
The Natura 2000 Network is the European network of protected areas, the largest in the world. Its purpose is to ensure the long-term conservation of priority species and habitats for Europe, and to contribute to halting the loss of biodiversity, while ensuring economic development that respects these important natural values. They are managed both by the autonomous community where each space is located and by the General State Administration.
The Spanish Mediterranean is made up of 128 marine or maritime-terrestrial areas, covering 16% of its waters.
Protected areas in the Valencian Community
Off the coast of the Valencian Community there are 22 of these marine spaces. One of them is the Montgó-Cap de Sant Antoni Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA), located between the municipalities of Xàbia and Denia. It is part of the Montgó Massif Natural Park. Beyond its impressive cliffs, its extension towards the sea is made up of rocky and sandy bottoms that are characterised by extraordinary marine biodiversity, in which you can find from small invertebrates such as anemones and limpets, to large creatures such as moray eels and groupers.
The great variety of environments present in Cap de Sant Antoni allows the appearance of a significant number of benthic communities, some of them of great ecological interest.
Among the protected species that inhabit its waters are the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the orange gorgonian (Leptogorgia sarmentosa), also known as “sea fans”, which are colonies of organisms, very valuable as a resting place and food for other animal species.
PROGRAM
May 12:
-All day. Public briefing. Xàbia Marina, Alicante.
– 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Meeting with socio-economic agents. Duanes Library and Social Center. Calle Botànic Cavanilles, 17, Xàbia, Alicante (2nd floor).
May 13 in the morning:
– Guided boat tour of the Montgó-Cap de Sant Antoni space, Valencia.
