The non-profit organization Oceana criticizes the Government of Spain for failing to meet the marine conservation objectives of the Life Intemares project. After requesting an extension from the European Union, now the deadline is extended until June 2026. This extension of the project, which was due to conclude this year, represents "a further delay in compliance with the legal deadlines to draw up management plans for protected marine areas, which prolongs a situation of illegality in some areas."
The creation of new protected areas, already agreed upon by the scientific community, "would also suffer delays, which could imply failing to meet the European objective of protecting 30% of Spanish waters by 2030."
The Sustainable Fishing Law obliges the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to coordinate with the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to manage fishing within protected marine areas. The lack of understanding between the two portfolios in this matter endangers the integrity of the ecosystems for which these areas are protected.
“The Life intemares project, which has received 50 million euros from European citizens over eight years, should have addressed the situation of 94,000 square kilometers of paper parks, theoretically protected areas that have been without a management plan for more than six years, which is the legal limit. Vulnerable habitats and species, such as cetaceans and corals, are threatened by the government's immobility regarding the management of protected areas. Oceana asks that the Ministry of Fisheries guarantee effective management measures, such as the elimination of destructive fishing gear from protected areas,” says Oceana's marine biologist in Europe, Silvia García.
The map highlights the Spanish marine area affected by administrative delays linked to the Life Intermares project, made up of protected areas awaiting their management plan (in orange), as well as areas whose protection is still pending (in red).
Ecosystems such as the mud volcanoes of the Gulf of Cádiz, the bamboo corals of the Seco de los Olivos and the white coral reefs of the Avilés Canyon are affected by bottom trawling. The delay in establishing management measures also affects areas intended for the protection of cetaceans, as is the case in the migratory corridor that runs through part of the Mediterranean and in the Canary Islands. In both enclaves there is a risk of collision of these mammals with different boats.
Spain has 22.3% of protected marine area and the management of almost half is pending LIFE INTEMARES. In addition, most of the management plans for protected marine areas in our country are outdated or exclude measures to regulate fishing1, which is illegal.2Future plans must prohibit harmful fishing and include strict protection zones to safeguard the most vulnerable habitats and species.
The Intemares project
Endowed with 49.8 million euros, Life Intemares is one of the largest marine conservation projects in Europe. Its objective is to establish management measures for the Natura 2000 marine network, as well as to complete it with the declaration of new protected areas to ensure the representativeness and coherence of the network. The project began in January 2017 and should conclude eight years later, in December 2024. According to its schedule, the management plans should have been approved by December 2021 and the declaration of new protected areas, by December 2022.
Oceana participates in the scientific committee of the project, which presented a proposal that would allow to reach 30% protection of Spanish marine waters, as established by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Of the areas proposed for declaration as Sites of Community Importance during the term of the project, six remain pending: underwater mountains of the Mallorca Channel, Tiñoso Canyon and Seco de Palos, system of tributary canyons of Cap Bretón, marine area of the banks and gorges of the Alborán Sea, west of the Strait of Gibraltar and east of Lanzarote-Fuerteventura.
The Habitats Directive requires that Sites of Community Importance have management measures in place no later than six years after their approval. The Intemares delays affect the cetacean migratory corridor; the Natura 2000 sites of the Valencian Community; 24 areas in the Canary Islands and the Eastern Strait; and the ten áreas de LIFE + INDEMARES, its predecessor project, which were approved by the EU between 2015 and 2016.
