Catalonia has launched a €3 million plan to restore marine ecosystems along its coastline by 2030, with work already under way on the Costa Brava. The Generalitat says the PEREMCAT strategy is designed to help meet European restoration targets for degraded habitats.
Named PEREMCAT, the plan focuses on four key habitats: seagrass meadows, algae, rhodoliths, which are calcareous red algae, and coralligenous seabeds. The government says these ecosystems are important for biodiversity, fishing and underwater activities.
Diagnostic teams are already working in places including Tossa de Mar in Girona, where divers from the Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies, CEAB, are inspecting algae on sandy bottoms and rocks in Cala Bona. The teams use 25-metre transects and move 20 centimetres at a time while assessing the state of the habitat.
“We want to know the state of these habitats and from there define the strategy to preserve them,” said Sergi Rasero, head of the Marine Environment Protection and Conservation Service. In Cala Bona, technicians found that Ericaria crinita, an endangered algae species, has almost disappeared from the area.
“Today we could only find two individuals, when previously the population was abundant; therefore, the recession of this algae is clear and we will have to find out what factors have led to such high mortality,” said Mar Tur, one of the technicians. The first phase of PEREMCAT is a diagnosis of the condition of marine habitats across Catalonia.
The teams are expected to visit up to 40 locations along the Catalan coast in the coming months, including Calella and the Montgrí coast. The Generalitat says the plan is the first of its kind in Spain and aims to improve marine habitats from Empordà to the Terres de l'Ebre. More Catalonia news
The diagnostic phase will last more than a year and will assess the pressures and impacts affecting these habitats. After that, priority areas for action will be identified and pilot restoration projects will be carried out, according to Rasero. The different phases of PEREMCAT are scheduled to run until 2028, ahead of the European Union's 2030 target.
Júlia Costa, the project coordinator, said conservation comes first, through reducing pressures such as bathers, boats, pollution and climate change. She added that local communities will be involved if the plan proposes measures that may be unpopular, including changes linked to buoys and ecological moorings. The government says the plan will also consider passive restoration, such as reducing pressure, and active measures such as planting macroalgae or seagrasses. EU Nature Restoration Law Generalitat de Catalunya
