Multi-level governance and participatory scientific approach for the integrated management of the marine network
Project Title
Start Date
End Date
Project Summary
LIFE IP INTEMARES is an Integrated Project (IP) coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO), running from 2017 to 2026, with a total budget of over €27.2 million (including an EU contribution of €13.4 million). The project represents the largest marine conservation project in Europe and provides continuity to the previous LIFE+ INDEMARES. The central objective is to implement the Prioritised Action Framework (PAF) for the Natura 2000 network in the Spanish marine environment, ensuring an integrated, innovative, and participatory management of marine sites, based on scientific research and the active involvement of the economic sectors concerned. The project involves a broad partnership including oceanographic institutes, universities, environmental organisations (WWF, SEO/BirdLife), the fishing sector, and the regional authorities of Andalusia.
Biogeographical Region
- Atlantic
- Macaronesian
- Mediterranean
Habitats Type
- Oceans and coasts
Categories
- Conservation of habitats and species
- Management
- Stakeholder Engagement
Context
With over one million square kilometres of territorial waters, Spain possesses the second-largest marine area in Europe and, due to the convergence of three biogeographical regions (North-East Atlantic, Macaronesia, and Western Mediterranean), the greatest diversity of marine habitats and species on the continent. Despite this extraordinary wealth, the conservation of marine biodiversity and the management of marine Natura 2000 sites had long remained on the margins of national environmental policies. Only with the Spanish Natural Heritage Law of 2007 and Law 41/2010 on the Marine Environment — which transposed the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) — were the regulatory foundations laid for structured marine site protection. In this framework, the PAF constitutes the strategic tool guiding the project's actions.
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Problems and Threats Faced
- Insufficient and fragmented management of marine Natura 2000 sites: in the absence of approved management plans for almost all 46 national marine sites, the conservation of habitats and species of Community interest was deficient and inconsistent.
- Severe knowledge gaps: the Spanish marine ecosystem presented significant deficits in the characterisation of deep-sea habitats, species distribution, and conservation status monitoring, making any assessment under Art. 17 of the Habitats Directive difficult .
- Conflicts with economic sectors: fishing, shipping, nautical tourism, and aquaculture activities generated significant pressures on marine Natura 2000 sites, in the absence of shared governance mechanisms with stakeholders .
- Inadequate surveillance technologies: marine site monitoring relied on traditional tools insufficient for the scale and complexity of the pelagic environment and deep-sea habitats
- Insufficient integration of EU funds: the complementarity between the LIFE programme, structural funds (EMFF, ESF), and national funds had not been systematically structured to support the management of the marine network
Objectives and Results
- Implement the PAF for the Spanish marine Natura 2000 network, covering 98% of the priorities identified for the marine environment and 36% of the overall national PAF .
- Approve management plans for the 46 marine Natura 2000 sites under state jurisdiction and adopt four national conservation strategies for 34 priority marine species .
- Expand the marine Natura 2000 network with nine new sites, reaching the CBD objective of protecting 10% of Spanish territorial waters .
- Improve marine monitoring and surveillance by testing at least seven new innovative technologies (drones, acoustic telemetry, eDNA, etc.) .
- Build an integrated and replicable governance model involving economic sectors, central and regional administrations, establishing permanent mechanisms for participation and conflict mediation .
- Raise awareness among at least 15% of the Spanish population regarding the importance of the marine Natura 2000 network, through environmental education and communication programmes
Good Practice Description
The LIFE IP INTEMARES project addressed the management of an entire Member State's marine Natura 2000 network systematically and in an integrated manner for the first time, overcoming the fragmentation between central, regional, and sectoral authorities that had historically compromised the effectiveness of marine conservation policies in Spain .
The methodological core of the project is scientific research as a governance tool: the nearly 130 oceanographic campaigns conducted within the framework of the previous LIFE+ INDEMARES, and their follow-up in the current project, generated an unprecedented knowledge base on deep-sea habitats, species distribution, and anthropogenic pressures. These data did not remain confined to academic publications but were systematically translated into operational management plans and concrete conservation measures. This "science to management" approach constitutes a replicable model for any Natura 2000 network aiming to transition from the formal designation of sites to active, evidence-based management .
On the governance front, the project experimented with innovative mechanisms for involving the fishing sector, traditionally in tension with conservation demands. The Confederación Española de Pesca became a formal partner of the project, transforming a potential conflict into a structured collaboration. This integration allowed for the design of management measures that take into account the production needs of the sector, significantly increasing their acceptance and applicability. The relevance to TraiN2K is direct: the project demonstrates how the role of the Natura 2000 Coach — capable of mediating between conservation demands and local economic interests — is essential for transforming a network of protected areas into a shared governance system .
The technological component was also particularly innovative: the systematic testing of new monitoring technologies (including passive acoustic systems, satellite telemetry tools for cetaceans and sea turtles, and eDNA techniques) demonstrated how marine surveillance can be made more efficient and less invasive, opening up concrete prospects for improving reporting systems under the Habitats Directive.
