Publication in the Official State Gazette of the Ministerial Order proposing the SCI for the Eastern and Southern Marine Area of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment takes a new step towards the protection of the marine environment. Today, the BOE publishes the Ministerial Order approving the proposal to the European Commission for inclusion in the list of Sites of Community Importance (SCI) of the Natura 2000 Network of the marine space ESZZ15002 the east and south of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura.
The Ministry’s proposal provides information on the geographical limits, surface area and values for which this marine space is proposed and includes a preventive protection regime until this space is designated by the European Commission as an SCI.
With this proposal for an SCI of the marine area of the east and south of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura, Spain will increase the Natura 2000 Network area of marine scope by more than 14000 km2, achieving that 8% of our seas are Protected. Spain, therefore, is approaching the goal set by the Convention on Biological Diversity of protecting 10% of marine areas by 2020.
In addition, numerous natural values are protected, including habitats covered by Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, such as reefs and sandbanks permanently covered by shallow seawater and endangered species such as the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and a great diversity of cetacean species such as the bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus), sperm whales, beaked whales and fin whales, among others.
EXTENSIVE AND IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE AREAS
This proposal to include the Lanzarote-Fuerteventura marine area in the Natura 2000 Network comes after an exhaustive study of the area within the framework of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project “Inventory and designation of the Natura 2000 Network in marine areas of the Spanish State”, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation and of which the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment is a partner together with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. the Spanish National Research Council, ALNITAK, the Coordinator for the Study of Marine Mammals, OCEANA, the Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the Canary Islands, SEO/BirdLife and WWF Spain.
Together with the scientific work, which began in 2009 with the oceanographic campaigns, the INDEMARES project has carried out a participatory process prior to the approval of these standards in which information has been given and the opinions of all the sectors and administrations involved have been compiled.
When this area was selected in 2009 to be part of the INDEMARES project, it was called “South of Fuerteventura” and was established mainly to study the habitat of community interest 1170 “Reefs” in the “Banquete” and “Amanay” submarine banks, as well as pelagic species of sea turtles and cetaceans. A preliminary study by the entity responsible for the study of cetaceans in this area (SECAC) determined the presence of cetaceans in a wider area to the east of the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, so in 2011 the European Commission was notified of the extension of the study area, which was renamed “Marine Area of the East and South of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura”.
In this area, therefore, the bottom habitats of “El Banquete” and “Amanay”, located in the south of the island of Fuerteventura, have been studied, as well as the cetacean populations of the wider area that includes both the south of Fuerteventura and the east of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
The SCI proposal process began with a participatory workshop in which the studies carried out and the SCI proposal were presented to all interested parties on 27 and 28 June 2014 in Puerto del Rosario. During the workshop, scientific information was provided that justified the extension of the SCI proposal to some adjacent areas (north of Lanzarote and the Strait of Bocaina).
The proposal for SCI for Lanzarote and Fuerteventura has been subject to public participation and has been submitted to the criteria of the Advisory Council for the Environment and the State Commission for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, as well as the Ministries.
GREAT COMMITMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK
The proposal of this new space as a SCI is a milestone for the conservation of biodiversity in Spain, especially for the development and expansion of the Natura 2000 Network in the marine area, in which the number of spaces and the protected area is much lower than the terrestrial area.
This proposal is in addition to those of nine other SCIs and the declaration of 39 Special Protection Areas for Birds approved in 2014, the result of the great effort made by this Ministry to comply with the obligations arising from international conventions, community regulations and its own legal system, and demonstrates its firm commitment to the protection of the marine environment.
JOBS OF THE FUTURE
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment will continue the work started with the INDEMARES project, with the aim of reaching 10% of marine protected area by 2020. The aim is to study areas to be declared as a Marine Protected Area, for the protection of species and habitats beyond those contemplated in the Natura 2000 Network, such as cetacean populations.
More information about these spaces is available on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, in the Coasts and Marine Environment section: http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/costas/temas/biodiversidad-marina/espaciosmarinos-protegidos/red-natura/red-natura-2000-declaracion-lugares.aspx
