Pressures on the marine environment
€12,667
2020 - 2021
Menorca
An OBSAM research team has launched a study on existing use and activities on the coast and the Biosphere Reserve marine environment to detect anthropogenic threats and pressures, evaluate possible impacts, and design a restoration proposal plan for those habitats that are affected. The study wants to contribute to the improvement of the state of conservation of marine ecosystems; and reverse, wherever possible, any impacts that are already affecting the sea.
In this first phase, the team has identified up to 36 threats, such as aquaculture, light pollution, and discharges. Many of the pressures are generated on land and are linked to ports or residential developments on the coast. The study has been co-financed by Marilles Foundation, the Menorca Biosphere Reserve, and the Foundation for the Preservation of Menorca; it’s taking place within the OBSAM marine environment programme and we intend to follow it up long-term.
“Initiating this project has meant filling one the most important absences of information in Menorca, because to learn about the uses and activities developed within the marine environment and the pressures these generate is fundamental to the management of resources. An idea that is shared with the different entities that have believed in it, like Marilles.”
Eva Marsinyach Responsible for monitoring the marine environment of the Socio-environmental Observatory in Menorca (OBSAM)
