POSIMED 2015 CAMPAIGN FOR THE FOLLOW-UP OF POSIDONIA OCEANICA MEADOWS WITH VOLUNTEER DIVERS IN ANDALUCÍA ARRIVES AT ITS END WITH HIGH PARTICIPATION AND DISSEMINATION.

After visiting the 17 stations included in the monitoring with volunteers, this weekend ends in Cabo de Gata this volunteer campaign with divers, the only action of this kind that takes place in Andalusia under the tutelage of the Junta de Andalucía.

This action is part of the LIFE BLUE NATURA project, a European project led by the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning of the Junta de Andalucía that will develop different actions for the characterization and quantification of CO2 sinks from Andalusian coastal ecosystems, contributing information for the mitigation of climate change.

The Monitoring Network of the state of conservation of Posidonia oceanica in Andalusia (Red Posimed-Andalucía) tracks 35 stations spread across the provinces of Málaga, Granada and Almería. POSIMED-Andalusia is a Program of the Ministry of Environment and Territory Planning of the Junta de Andalucía (CMAOT) which has been active since 2009, uniting the technical monitoring of the Posidonia oceanica meadows carried out by the Marine Environment Management Program of the CMAOT with the participation of volunteer divers who provide data on the state of conservation of these seagrass meadows. Within this extensive network, volunteers collaborate in the monitoring of 17 stations. Since the beginning of the campaign on October 24, 17 seagrass meadows included in the provinces of Malaga, Granada and Almeria have been visited and sampled, with a total participation of 92 volunteers. With this campaign, the sixth since the start of the Posimed Network (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) about 400 people will have already participated in the sampling of this marine plant, endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and the one that the Junta de Andalucía carries out an important conservation effort. The scope of this Environmental Volunteer Program increases every year, and since it was launched in 2009, it has formed a network of more than 700 people interested in participating. The participants have had the opportunity to learn about the biology of the species, the objectives of the Life Blue Natura project and have taken useful data for the conservation of the species, by complementing the information obtained by the technical team. This year, in addition, many of the participants have been able to observe first hand the flowering of this marine plant, a fact that does not happen every year.

The action was developed by Hombre y Territorio, partner of Blue Natura Project