Sea grass restoration in Spain
(Marta Madina / 18-11-09) The international organization
Oceana estimates that Spain loses sea grass prairies valued
at 60 million Euros each year due to trawling, ports and
marine construction and dumping.
The conservation organisation and the Banco Santander Foundation
made this information public during a press conference to
present the results of a joint project to restore sea grass
prairies developed in Almeria last year.
Both organisations have been working to restore sea grass
in this region for three years and request protection for
Punta Entinas-El Sabinar. In order to achieve their objectives,
they have implemented a project to regenerate the damaged
areas and promote the creation of a new protected area near
Roquetas de Mar.
The restoration work in this region has led to the development
of a plan to collect and plant seeds of the sea grass Cymodocea
nodosa, known as "seahorse meadows", in
order to estimate the success of this project in case it
was implemented.
The result of this work has proven that the regeneration of
damaged ecosystems is successful only when carried out as part
of a protection plan. If not, the recovery capacity is less
than 2.5% of the original surface area, as opposed to 25% if
the area was protected. conservation
is cheaper than recovery
"Investing
in conservation is 500 times cheaper than investing in
recovery. Restoring 10 hectares costs an average of 7.2
million Euros, which is what it would cost to monitor and
protect 5,000 hectares for seven years," declared
Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe. "Furthermore,
it is impossible to restore a damaged area if the cause
of the damage is not eradicated: trawling, sand extraction,
drilling for oil and minerals, aquaculture, mass tourism,
coastal construction, etc."
It is especially important to take into account that the
disappearance of such productive ecosystems as sea grass
meadows constitutes a significant economic loss. According
to Oceana estimates, there could be in Spain more than 100,000
hectares of these habitats and each year between 3 and 5%
of their surface is lost.
Oceana
believes that the Punta Entinas-El Sabinar area, which represents
roughly 10,000 hectares, should be designated a protected
area to conserve three very sensitive and important habitats
for the marine ecosystem, including sea grass prairies, maerl
and red algae reefs.
The work completed
by Oceana with the help of underwater robots, divers and
research vessels will also help to increase the knowledge
of the biological richness of this region. "The
alternation of habitats including up to three species of
sea grass, along with red algae reefs and rhodolithes, make
southern Almeria an area of high ecological diversity," explained
Ricardo Aguilar, Director of Research for Oceana in Europe. "They
are essential for fishing, protecting beaches, absorbing
CO2 and maintaining biodiversity," concludes Aguilar.
