- The Vice-President of the Government and the President of the Region of Murcia agree on the creation of the Inter-Administrative Commission
- This is an essential tool for strengthening understanding between institutions
The Vice President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, and the President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, have signed this Wednesday the protocol for the creation and regulation of the Interadministrative Commission of the Mar Menor.
This commission, demanded by the Government of Spain since the approval of the Law for the Recovery and Protection of the Mar Menor in 2020 and included in Article 5, is made up of representatives of the General State Administration, the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia and the municipalities of the watershed. The duration of the protocol is four years, which may be extended at the express wish of the parties.
This agreement is a turning point for the coordination and institutional cooperation of policies and actions affecting this wetland. The objective is to preserve the natural capital of an exceptional site. “We have had the opportunity to note a state of mind that seems to me politically very important, and that is the firm will to work together to solve problems,” said Vice President Teresa Ribera after the signing of the pact.
The Minister added that both the President of the Region and many of the mayors present at the event have been working along these lines for some time: “The society of Murcia and the Campo de Cartagena has seen how we have been building a dialogue, a relationship of understanding and an identification of complex but important lines of action. And we came from positions that were not necessarily easy when it came to finding a space of common understanding”.
FRAMEWORK OF PRIORITY ACTIONS FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE MAR MENOR (MAPMM)
The constitution of the Mar Menor Inter-administrative Commission is part of the Framework of Priority Actions to Recover the Mar Menor (MAPMM), presented in November 2021 in Murcia and with a budget of 484 million. In the words of the vice-president, “the most ambitious program ever announced for the restoration of an ecosystem in Spain”.
MORE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE TOMORROW AND THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
The ministry estimates that 3,580 tons of nitrates and 19.7 tons of phosphates are discharged annually into the Mar Menor as a result of agricultural and livestock activity, as well as former mining, urban development and tourism. Therefore, renaturalizing the plots and acting on the mining saw is key to addressing the contamination problem of this enclave.
In line with this, the Biodiversity Foundation, which depends on the MITECO, resolved last December 30 the call for aid with an investment of 16.2 million euros for 11 projects, aid whose objective is to recover the biological integrity of the Mar Menor through the restoration and environmental improvement of the agricultural area of the area.
Thus, the vice-president pointed out today the importance of the involvement of all stakeholders, especially the agricultural sector: “It is impossible to promote a transformation of our agricultural system to ensure its viability if we do not accompany the actors of this sector”. “We need to transition to a more sustainable and richer agriculture tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” he added.
