The Autonomous Community carries out restoration work on the Posidonia oceanica or Posidonia mediterranea meadows in the Hornillo bay in Águilas to recover its high environmental value in a unique space in the Region of Murcia.
This is a pilot project developed by the regional government in collaboration with the University of Murcia, in which techniques for transplanting rhizomes and seedlings germinated in the seagrass laboratory are used.
The Minister of the Environment, Universities, Research and Mar Menor, Juan María Vázquez, pointed out that “we aim to recover areas of high environmental value that have been altered and compensate for their effect on these spaces and habitats, and specifically on the marine environment. through the restoration work of the Posidonia oceanica meadows.
«The reintroduction of the seagrass in the Hornillo Bay has proven to be a useful tool in restoration techniques, laying the foundations for having technologies aimed at avoiding the loss of biodiversity, contributing to the compensation of the carbon footprint and enhancing the ecosystem services,” highlighted the counselor.
These techniques increase the transparency of the water and retain suspended particles, thus increasing the production of oxygen and sequestration of CO2, which favors decarbonization; serve as habitats for numerous species, including species of commercial interest that enhance artisanal fisheries, among other issues. In short, it promotes blue growth, the results of which generally improve synergies between the natural environment, society and the economy.
The regional government will expand this framework of collaboration with the University of Murcia to continue deepening the development of these techniques, studying and testing their scaling through their application on larger surfaces.
More projects
In recent years, projects and initiatives have been developed that focused on the possibility of reversing the damage caused to these important Mediterranean habitats, thus improving their state of conservation.
A few years ago, the University of Murcia and the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies of the Balearic Islands pioneered the development of reimplantation techniques with seeds on the coast of the Region of Murcia for the recovery and expansion of Posidonia oceanica meadows.
Subsequently, and thanks to the execution of two works contracted by the Autonomous Community, the scientific-technical work was continued with the University of Murcia and the environmental consulting firm C&C Medio Ambiente.
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