The island of El Hierro has hosted the first participatory workshop of
the nine scheduled that will serve to update the management plans of 24
Special Marine Areas of Conservation (SACs) of the Canary Islands.
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition, through the Directorate-General for Ecological Transition,
Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea, has organized this cycle of workshops at the
framework of a participatory process that began in April, with a period of
of prior public consultation and which will end with the publication of a new
regulations that will update the SAC management plans.
This action, framed in the LIFE IP INTEMARES project coordinated by the
Biodiversity Foundation aims to actively involve the
socio-economic sectors and citizens in the identification of measures that
allow the uses and activities that are carried out in these areas to be compatible
marine areas protected with the conservation of their natural values.
The first workshop has had the participation of the scientific community, the
public administrations and with representatives of the fisheries, aquaculture and aquaculture sectors
and nautical-recreational activities, among others. On Thursday 9 the appointment will be in La
Palma, where the second workshop will take place in the different
islands until the end of the cycle, next July.
The design of this process has the collaboration of all LIFE partners
IP INTEMARES, as well as with the support of the Government of the Canary Islands. The cycle of the
participation will be completed with the hearing and public information process,
prior to the publication of the final regulations in the BOE.
In the 24 Special Areas of Conservation of the Canary Islands live
species of marine reptiles of community interest such as the loggerhead turtle (Caretta
caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas), of cetaceans including the dolphin
bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) and spotted dolphin
(Stenella frontalis), pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), pilot whale (Stenella frontalis), pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), pilot whale (Globicephala macro
gray (Grampus griseus), or the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).
There are also unique fish such as the angelshark (Squatina squatina), which in the
is currently critically endangered according to the International Union for Peace,
Nature Conservation (IUCN). Among the most characteristic habitats,
include reefs, sea caves, and sandbars that, in many cases,
They are home to sebadales, seagrass meadows of great ecological wealth.
The 24 spaces mentioned were declared Places of Community Interest
(SCI) as a SAC in 2011 to guarantee the necessary protection and in parallel
approved the corresponding measures for the conservation and regulation of uses and
Activities. This regulation will be renewed thanks to the update of the
management.
LIFE IP INTERNARES
The LIFE IP INTEMARES project aims to achieve a network of
marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network managed in an effective and integrated manner,
with the active participation of the sectors involved and research as a
basic tools for decision-making.
The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition coordinates the
project. The General Directorate of Sustainability of the
The Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the
Spanish Fisheries Confederation, SEO/BirdLife and WWF-Spain.
