The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has launched a demonstrative experience to improve the conservation status of the woodworm cormorant in 11 marine protected areas of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. It will do so through participation, innovation and governance in collaboration with these three autonomous communities.
This initiative, promoted within the framework of the LIFE INTEMARES project coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, belonging to MITECO, raises the opportunity to face the main threats of the species derived from human activities. Its intention is to contribute to the recovery of its populations, with the participation and involvement of key actors and sectors in its conservation, among which are the fishing sector, the scientific community and nautico-recreational activities.
The area of action of this initiative is the National Marine-Terrestrial Park Atlantic Islands of Galicia, in addition to the marine spaces of Penarronda–Barayo, Cabo Busto-Luanco, Yacimiento de Icnitas, Ría de Ribadesella – Ría de Tinamayor, Ría del Eo, Ría de Villaviciosa and Playa de Vega, located in Asturias; and the spaces of the Western Rías and Duna de Oyambre, the Marine Space of the Islets of Portin-Joyera-Victoria, located in San Las.
Likewise, this demonstrative experience will serve as a reference for the implementation of these measures in other marine protected areas belonging to the Natura 2000 Marine Network in Spain. In addition, it will be able to respond to the need to develop conservation plans for those species included in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species in the category of vulnerable, precisely the case of the moñudo cormorant.
PARTICIPATION AND INNOVATION
A number of proposals, recommendations and measures will be developed to mitigate some of the threats faced by minced cormorants, such as by-catch on fishing gear; disturbances in breeding or feeding areas; pollution; and alien species. In this way, a process is being carried out where participation is promoted through different actions, such as interviews and workshops. In this context, a workshop was held at the interpretation center of the Natural Park of the Marshes of Santoña, Victoria and Joyel in Cantabria.
Based on the information generated, those actions to be implemented as a priority will be selected in order to test their degree of success, with the collaboration, as already indicated, of the sectors involved, especially the fisheries sector. This aims to contribute, among other things, to preventing by-catches of the woodworm and, in general, to improving the conservation status of the species in the areas of study of the project.
THREATENED SPECIES
The Moñudo Cormorant (Gulosus aristotelis) is a marine bird recognizable by its black jet plumage and the small crest of feathers that it presents at the top of its head, by which it receives its name. It sits on the rocky stretches of the most inaccessible cliffs of the coasts and does not usually move far from the coast.
Its population in Spain is divided into two subspecies, the Mediterranean (Gulosus aristotelis desmarestii) and the Atlantic (Gulosus aristotelis aristotelis). Both have experienced a great regression in recent years and are included in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species in the category of vulnerable.
EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS
The LIFE INTEMARES project is moving towards the objective of effective management of the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network, with the active participation of the sectors involved and with research as basic tools. The Biodiversity Foundation of MITECO coordinates the project in which the ministry itself participates as partners, through the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification and the General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea; the Junta de Andalucía, through the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, as well as the Agency of Environment and Water; the Spanish Institute of Oceanography; AZTI; the University of Alicante; the Polytechnic University of Valencia; the Spanish Confederation of Fisheries, WWLIFE/SEO. It has the contribution of the LIFE Programme of the European Union.