The regional government, together with experts from different fields, prepares a strategy to improve the values of this Mar Menor wetland
The great El Carmolí wetland is the largest landscape window of the Mar Menor and, therefore, a fundamental enclave that can offer solutions that revert positively to the salty lagoon based on nature and environmental value. In this 3.1 million square meter space, which ranges from the mouth of the Albujón Rambla to the urban center of Punta Brava, the Mar Menor and the AP-7 highway and the N-332 highway, the regional government advances in its empowerment after saving these lands from “legal traffic to prevent it from returning to private hands”, thus guaranteeing “public property to be able to act on them and re-naturalize and enhance environmental values to contribute to the improvement of the Mar Menor.”
This was expressed by the Minister of Development and Infrastructure, José Ramón Díez de Revenga, at the breakfast that LA VERDAD, sponsored by the Autonomous Community, held yesterday together with experts from different fields to establish the key points of action in this space that They not only focus on nature, but also take into account the heritage values it offers and its possibilities for sustainable tourism.
Revenga insisted on going beyond protecting to manage these spaces and “not leaving them to fate”, now focusing his efforts on identifying the environmental values that exist to improve them with “actions in favor of nature so as not to be invasive.” In this sense, they are carrying out an analysis work with experts to identify what these values are in order to optimize them and make them enjoyable for citizens, translating them into a ‘masterplan’ that could be presented at the beginning of the year and whose actions may last for ‘two or three years”.
Díez de Revenga referred to a “sustainable complex” in which “there are no such rigid boundaries between naturalized and urban space”
As the experts pointed out, empowerment should focus on environmental, historical and heritage values that involve coexistence with urban centers. In the first point, Rafael Pardo, architect and specialist in spatial planning, indicated that “the future of El Carmolí must be an area with surrounding population centers.” “We must enhance and value that protected areas are part of our daily life just like the green areas of our city and learn to live with nature”, he stressed during the event, recalling the benefit of these protected environments on the day to day, beyond being remote areas or excursions.
El Carmolí natural space, a wetland of great ecological value on the Cartagena shore of the Mar Menor. /
With regard to historical and patrimonial values, the archaeologist and specialist in military heritage José Antonio Martínez insisted on not losing them, “because these elements that are devoid of use are telling us about the history and evolution of the territory”, inviting you to get to know it citizens and value it. “There are still people who have served in those military installations and they tell you the story of the day to day. The weighting of all elements makes it important to preserve all that military heritage, “he stressed.
Respectful tourism
In this promotion of El Carmolí there is room for tourism that is respectful of the environment. “The regular tourist needs to be entertained and nature entertainment in protected areas is good for all families,” stressed the Minister of Development, indicating the importance of communicating the values of preservation of the environment that also allow learning about its history and that it is an «added value to all who come to the Mar Menor». «The future of the Mar Menor is eminently touristy, but for it to be preserved there must be development. What we have to do is make this development compatible with environmental values, with population growth and socioeconomic values, “he added.
In this sense, Herminio Picazo, biologist and professor at the University of Murcia, emphasized the importance of knowing how these natural systems work for the integration of the natural environment and social life, so as not to “influence the key aspects of ecosystems and that the use is sustainable and does not harm ‘, making the maintenance of natural systems a priority. “Let’s study everything we do very well so that it is not going to reverse against the objective,” he stressed. The expert highlighted the need for well-studied and planned open spaces, walks, walkways and trails. “This tourism development has to become more sustainable and protected areas and natural spaces must be considered as places to conserve and protect with a highly controlled public use that meets the needs of society, citizens and tourism,” he added.
“It is necessary to break the seasonality of tourism and actions like these collaborate, making them much more common spaces for use. The tourist increasingly wants to walk and enjoy a healthy environment and return home with charged batteries, “said Rafael Pardo.
Remove barriers
One of the measures of the project is the reconversion of the current highway into a large backbone and parallel to the sea line, a section that until now gives access to citizens of Punta Brava and El Carmolí, but that «it is worth eliminating the barrier and sacrifice it to enhance the values that are characteristic and differentiating “, as pointed out by the Minister of Development, who said that alternatives are being seen so that residents do not lose that communication capacity. Rafael Pardo seconded this measure by supporting that “you can go through that great window that is many kilometers and enjoy the landscape and the historical values that it has.”
In this sense, progress is being made in terms of sustainable transit, creating a pedestrian and cyclable ring around the Mar Menor, in addition to working on a sustainable architecture strategy so that spaces act “in favor of nature instead of facing it », Said Diez de Revenga. “Both things have to be integrated and there are not such rigid boundaries between naturalized and urban space to make a sustainable complex”, he indicated.
José Ramón Díez de Revenga. Minister of Development and Infrastructures
“We have a space with a very powerful environmental and cultural value”
The Minister of Development and Infrastructure focused on the creation of points of interest to attract citizens to this enclave. “The vast majority of society in the Region of Murcia does not know that we have a space with a very powerful environmental and cultural value,” he stressed, focusing on the project as a spearhead that marks “a path with clear objectives” and that allows “Abandon the image of the Mar Menor as if it were horrible, because there are things that are being done wrong and others that we are doing very well.” Díez de Revenga affirmed that it is a regional project in which to make the guidelines clear and add, because it will be good for the inhabitants. “We hope that when citizens go to the El Carmolí wetland and are waiting for environmental values, they will suddenly find historical values that they surely did not know and that also tell stories,” he added, encouraging people to get involved in this type of action. so that you feel as your own these spaces and can enjoy them in a respectful way with the environment and avoid that they end up degrading.
Rafael Pardo. Architect and specialist in spatial planning
“It is the opportune moment to propose a unitary project”
During breakfast, the architect and specialist in spatial planning Rafael Pardo highlighted the “impressive environmental and historical values” that El Carmolí has, which are unified in its landscape values, emphasizing the need to act “right now” in the Mar Menor “Because it is not a problem only of the waters, but of everything that surrounds it.” Faced with the “reputational crisis” in this environment, he encouraged determined actions to improve and reverse the situation and thus create an environmentally sustainable space. In this sense, he regretted that in the 80-90s the opportunity to have achieved large visual windows was lost, that is, free spaces of buildings in areas such as La Manga, although these areas are available on the rest of the shores. “It is the opportune moment to propose a unitary project of all those environments still free around the Mar Menor”, he claimed, preserving and valuing this “landscaping luxury”. “The Mar Menor is a luxury just by approaching the shore to see a sunrise or a sunset,” he added.
Herminio Picazo. Biologist and professor at the University of Murcia
“Investing actively in the Mar Menor is an absolute urgency”
Herminio Picazo claimed the “absolute urgency” involved in investing actively and positively in the Mar Menor, since the lagoon has not only had the “problems of eutrophication”, but “the entire environment has had a typology for a long time of uses and a series of incidents that have led to the Mar Menor being an ecological jewel but at risk ”. “This is the moment in which we have to combine all efforts from all orbits to ensure that the Mar Menor is once again the place of potentiality and an excellent horizon,” he added. However, he affirmed that despite the problems of these decades, there is the satisfaction of having open spaces that are part of the protected landscape, such as the Salinas de San Pedro to the north, Calblanque to the south and a series of wetlands in the area. «There is a set of spaces that are worth forming part of the first line of action and concern. It will only be possible for the Mar Menor to acquire the importance it really has if action is taken from all orbits, and this is the time to begin, “he said.
José Antonio Martínez. Archaeologist and specialist in military heritage
“We can talk about an archaeological industrial heritage”
Due to its particular natural characteristics, the Mar Menor environment was valued more than 100 years ago as the “ideal place to create a series of aeronautical facilities and infrastructures for the Cartagena naval base that have developed a specific cultural landscape in this area” , as reported by José Antonio Martínez. In this sense, he recalled that there are centenary facilities “that have a very important story to tell and that its value for citizens is fundamental.” The environment of El Carmolí has three large heritage centers from the military point of view: the airfield, the powder magazines or ammunition depots (with two tunnels with their immediate defense systems), and a large industrial warehouse that until the mid-1990s It was developed for a hovercraft but it was an abandoned project. «These nuclei have to tell us a story; they have a past, a present and above all a social future so that people can enjoy these heritage elements and that cultural landscape with elements integrated into a natural environment with its own characteristics, “he added.
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