The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA) participates in the IV International Congress of Marine Protected Areas (IMPAC 4), which brings together managers and experts in the conservation of marine protected areas from more than 60 countries in Chile until September 8.
The IMPAC, which is held every four years, has become one of the main forums for debate and exchange of experiences worldwide to join forces and support best practices in the use and management of marine protected areas, in order to achieve the effective conservation of marine biodiversity and the natural and cultural heritage of the oceans.
Within this framework, MAPAMA, through the Biodiversity Foundation and the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, will present to the international community the LIFE IP INTEMARES, the largest marine conservation project in Europe, which seeks to achieve an effective management of the marine spaces of the Natura 2000 Network with the active participation of the sectors involved and with research as basic tools for decision-making. Decisions.
With the LIFE IP INTEMARES, Spain will be able to meet the international commitment to protect at least 10% of the marine area by 2020, a global objective established in Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. IMPAC 4 will evaluate and review the efforts of the participating countries to achieve its compliance, as well as other international challenges, including target 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
PARTICIPATION OF THE SECTORS INVOLVED
This fourth edition of IMPAC, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Ministry of Environment of Chile, focuses on the importance of the relationship between people and the sea for the development of effective management measures in marine protected areas.
Along these lines, the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, coordinated by MAPAMA through the Biodiversity Foundation and which will invest nearly 50 million euros until 2024, will implement participatory approaches in the management of marine protected areas, providing a relevant role to the relationships between people and the sea through processes in which the different socio-economic sectors and users of the sea will be protagonists.
In fact, participation, innovation and the integration of funds, policies and actors constitute the basic principles of an extensive programme of actions linked to research, monitoring and surveillance, conservation, governance and training, as well as communication, awareness and environmental education.
Among the planned actions, the management plans of the Natura 2000 Network areas under the jurisdiction of the General State Administration will be drawn up or reviewed, in a participatory manner with all the administrations and sectors involved, and the creation of 9 new spaces will be proposed, in addition to the 49 declared within the framework of LIFE+ INDEMARES. the project prior to the LIFE IP INTEMARES.
LIFE+ INDEMARES, which also coordinated MAPAMA, managed to increase Spain’s marine protected area from 1 to 8%. In addition, 50 species new to science were discovered. The results of this project will also be presented at IMPAC 4 in the coming days.
LIFE IP INTERNARES
MAPAMA coordinates the project through the Biodiversity Foundation, and acts as a partner through the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea. The Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Spanish Fisheries Confederation, SEO/BirdLife and WWF-Spain also participate as partners. It has the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme, as well as the European Social Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, among other sources of funding.
