The Posidonia Action project reaches Pollença Bay

It is a collaboration platform coordinated by the Ecomar Foundation with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation, through the Pleamar program.

Posidonia oceanica is a fundamental species for maintaining the good environmental state of the Mediterranean Sea. This marine plant is essential for the recovery of species. The advancement and improvement of posidonia meadow replanting techniques will be achieved by creating a collaboration system, fostering the participation of the fishing sector and the general public through awareness and knowledge transfer to achieve ecosystem recovery.

The Posidonia Action project, coordinated by the Ecomar Foundation, in association with FEDAS (Spanish Federation of Underwater Activities), IMEDEA (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies) and the National Federation of Fishermen's Guilds, with the collaboration of Redeia and LG, is presented as an initiative that aims to improve the environmental health of posidonia oceanica meadows by involving the fishing sector and citizens, promoting environmental awareness in society and R&D in climate change mitigation.

UIB, EcoSphere, and BlausubClub support Posidonia Action in various activities, in order to meet the proposed objectives.

The meadows form an ecosystem of great environmental and socio-economic value, as they are one of the main carbon sinks in the Mediterranean, with one hectare of posidonia meadow absorbing as much CO2 as 10 hectares of the Amazon forest. They are a refuge and nursery area for numerous fishery interest species and prevent coastal erosion.

The project is an initiative that seeks to advance and evaluate techniques for the collection, cultivation, and experimental replanting of posidonia oceanica in new potential areas for marine meadow recovery.

Additionally, the project includes an R&D component in which advancements will be made in in vitro micropropagation techniques of posidonia explants. This technique can be very helpful for obtaining transplant material for future replantations that do not come from natural populations, thus favoring the conservation of the species and the Mediterranean in general.

This project is developed with the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, through the Pleamar Program, and is co-financed by the European Union through the FEMPA (European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund).

The project focuses on 4 restorations: Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, and Balearic Islands. In this case, replanting in the Balearic Islands will be carried out in Pollença Bay.

This project entails a series of objectives that are intended to be addressed:

• Train personnel and volunteers for the collection of posidonia seeds and their replanting.
• Collection of at least 18,000 seeds, seedlings, or fragments.
• Replanting an area equivalent to 3 hectares of posidonia in different areas belonging to the Natura 2000 Network in different autonomous communities along the Mediterranean Sea:· Valencian Community: Serra Gelada i Litoral de la Marina Baixa. 1/2 hectare.
• Catalonia: Tossa de Mar (ZEC Massís de les Cadiretes). 1 hectare.
• Balearic Islands: Bays of Pollença and Alcúdia. 1/2 hectare.

Region of Murcia: Marine space of the Coastal Islets of Murcia and Almería. 1 hectare. The project started on July 22, 2024, and will last 18 months during which work will be carried out to achieve the objectives.