© REE/IMEDEA
Pioneering Project to Recuperate Posidonia Meadows in Ibiza & Mallorca under way
An important habitat form, Posidonia seagrass is included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
This groundbreaking research project aims at recovering the underwater meadows of Posidonia Oceanica, a species found only in the Mediterranean Sea, where it is suffering from a fast decline due mainly to pollution.
The programme is being carried out by the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), together with Red Eléctrica, a Spanish electricity distribution company which have contributed with 409,000€.
This project is divided into three main phases: harvesting of Posidonia's seeds and fragments which have arrived to the coast due to rough weather, sowing them in saltwater aquariums located at Cabrera National Park and Colònia de Sant Jordi, and finally planting them on the seabed at Talamanca Bay (Ibiza) and Santa Ponça (Mallorca).
All the stages entail careful observation and monitoring of light intensity, water temperature and salinity to ensure which specimens pull through. So far, the survival rate has been estimated at 60%.
If this experimental research is successful, it will help with the restoration of the large Posidonia meadows which once covered the Mediterranean seafloor.
