Hugo Morán, the acting Secretary of State for the Environment, announced today that Spain will declare 9 new marine protected areas, during the presentation he made of the commitments with which the Spanish government is attending the international conference “Our ocean”, which is being held until tomorrow in Oslo.
Spain is attending the sixth edition of the “Our Ocean” International Conference, which is being held today and tomorrow in Oslo (Norway), with a total of 13 commitments aimed at the protection and sustainable use of our seas and oceans. This meeting, organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brings together leaders from governments, businesses, civil society and research institutions to share experiences, identify solutions and commit to action for clean, healthy and profitable oceans. These commitments should be circumscribed in six areas of action (marine protected areas, climate change, sustainable fisheries, fight against marine pollution, sustainable blue economy and maritime security).
Spain is participating in this conference with a delegation led by the acting Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, who has been today the person in charge of presenting the commitments with which the Government goes to this international event. Thus, Moran has announced that our country will have 9 new Marine Protected Areas by 2024. These new areas will be declared by habitats and marine species of exceptional value, and will be added to the one hundred of state competence that already exist in our waters, and which represent a protected area of about 12 million hectares, equivalent to more than 12% of our seas.
The new protected areas, which have already been identified but whose surface has yet to be delimited, will be: the banks and gorges of the Alboran Sea; the west of the Strait of Gibraltar; east of the SCI “Eastern and Southern Marine Area of
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura”; Strait of Gibraltar; Chafarinas Islands; central Catalan coast; the seamounts of the south of the Mallorca Channel; the submarine canyon system from Cabo Tiñoso to Cabo de Palos, and the Cap Bretón tributary canyon system.
In addition, Spain has committed to making an investment of 25 million euros over the next 4 years to monitor the environmental status of the marine environment and marine protected areas, through the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. Oceanographic and research campaigns will be carried out, which will significantly increase scientific knowledge of our seas.
STUDYING SHIP COLLISIONS WITH CETACEANS
Along these lines, Morán explained that an investment of 1 million euros will be allocated over the next four years for studies related to ship collisions with cetaceans, in the critical areas of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. The waters of
These two archipelagos have an immense wealth of marine biodiversity, and are home to increasingly threatened species of cetaceans. These studies will provide a better understanding of the current situation and design effective measures to protect them.
Along these lines, Morán explained that an investment of 1 million euros will be allocated over the next four years for studies related to ship collisions with cetaceans, in the critical areas of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. The waters of
These two archipelagos have an immense wealth of marine biodiversity, and are home to increasingly threatened species of cetaceans. These studies will provide a better understanding of the current situation and design effective measures to protect them.
Spain will also donate 40,000 euros to the MedFund Fund for the financing of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean. Our country is already part of this important project, along with the founding countries Monaco, France and Tunisia, and
others who have joined later.
In terms of blue growth, the Biodiversity Foundation will address the financing of 150 projects over the next two years for the conservation of marine biodiversity, the environmental sustainability of the fishing sector, and adaptation to climate change in protected marine areas for a total amount of 8 million euros.
A marine citizen science program will also be developed with more than 2,000 participants in the first two years. More than 12,000 volunteers will be mobilised in actions to restore marine spaces in the coming years. And at least 1,500 technicians and officials will be trained on the management of marine protected areas in the next two years. These actions will also be developed through the Biodiversity Foundation.
For its part, the Spanish Office for Climate Change is going to carry out an analysis of the vulnerability to climate change of marine habitats and species in five marine protected areas, where pilot projects on climate change adaptation measures will be developed.
FISHERIES SUSTAINABILITY
Spain is attending this international summit with three commitments related to fisheries sustainability. First, international cooperation mechanisms to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which is a strategic priority for the Government, will be strengthened.
In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will launch an Action Plan to strengthen international cooperation mechanisms to combat IUU fishing, which includes, among others, increasing the current exchange of information, promoting training, as well as carrying out joint inspections with the authorities of the Third Countries where Spanish-flagged fishing vessels make their landings.
In addition, and given the successful experience obtained after more than three decades of management of the Network of Marine Reserves of Fishing Interest, Spain is committed to the creation of a new reserve, Sa Dragonera (Balearic Islands), which will increase the number of marine reserves that make up the Network to 12. Sa Dragonera It has an important ecological and fishing value due to its great diversity of habitats and species.
Spain undertakes to strengthen its cooperation with West African countries with regard to the use of scientific knowledge as a basis for the sustainable use of fishery resources. This translates, first of all,
in the upcoming conduct of a research campaign in Guinea Bissau aboard the Oceanographic Vessel Vizconde de Eza.
The “Our Ocean” Conferences have their origin in a global initiative led and created in 2014 by former US Secretary of State John Kerry and seek high-level commitments to the conservation of the oceans. Since 2014, an annual session of this conference has been organized.
Previous conferences have resulted in almost a thousand commitments in the six areas of action: marine protected areas, climate change, sustainable fisheries, the fight against marine pollution, sustainable blue economy and maritime security.
