Spain approves a royal decree to protect Mediterranean seagrass meadows

The new regulation establishes a common framework to protect Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa meadows in the Spanish Mediterranean. It sets out measures to reduce and eliminate the main pressures affecting seagrass meadows; regulates boat anchoring and promotes low-impact mooring systems; and supports the improvement of scientific knowledge, monitoring of their conservation status, and the restoration of degraded areas.

The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), approved this Tuesday, 10th of March, a royal decree to strengthen the conservation of marine phanerogam meadows in the Spanish Mediterranean, one of the most ecologically valuable ecosystems in the marine environment.

The regulation establishes a common legal framework for the protection of Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa meadows, with the aim of preventing the impacts affecting these habitats and promoting their conservation and restoration.

Marine phanerogam meadows are among the most ecologically valuable ecosystems in the Mediterranean due to their high biodiversity and the environmental services they provide. They form extensive communities that can take decades to recover when they are damaged.

These meadows act as important carbon sinks, help improve water quality, and serve as shelter and breeding grounds for numerous marine species. The approval of the royal decree contributes to the protection of these ecosystems and the preservation of marine biodiversity, in line with European commitments to conservation, nature restoration, and resilience in the face of climate change.

The royal decree establishes a general protection regime for Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa meadows, with the aim of preventing impacts that could cause their deterioration or significant alteration, thereby ensuring the conservation of plant communities that play an essential role in the ecological balance of the Mediterranean.

In areas where these meadows are located, limits are placed on the development of new facilities and infrastructure such as gas pipelines, oil pipelines, submarine cables, discharge pipelines or seawater intake systems, port infrastructure or coastal defense works, beach regeneration or creation projects affecting these habitats, and renewable energy infrastructure in the marine environment.

The regulation also introduces restrictions on certain potentially polluting activities, such as liquid or solid discharges that may alter the condition of these ecosystems, as well as limitations on the establishment of new aquaculture facilities or discharge points near these ecosystems.

The royal decree prohibits boat anchoring over these meadows, one of the main causes of degradation of these habitats, and promotes the installation of low-impact mooring systems designed to minimize damage to the seabed and make recreational use compatible with the conservation of these ecosystems.

In addition, the text addresses the management of plant remains from these species that accumulate on beaches, known as wrack deposits, recognizing their ecological function and promoting management criteria compatible with the conservation of the coastal ecosystem.

The royal decree also strengthens scientific knowledge and the monitoring of the conservation status of marine phanerogam meadows.

To this end, it establishes the preparation and updating of the cartographic delimitation of the meadows, a fundamental tool for improving marine spatial planning and facilitating decision-making based on scientific knowledge.

Likewise, the regulation promotes monitoring, research, and restoration programs aimed at assessing the evolution of these habitats and encouraging their recovery in areas that have undergone degradation processes.

It also establishes a common legal framework for the protection and conservation of marine phanerogam meadows, granting these habitats a basic protection regime applicable across all marine waters along the Mediterranean coast.

This creates a uniform framework for the protection of these ecosystems while also allowing the autonomous communities to develop additional regulatory and management measures in protected marine areas where there is ecological continuity between the marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

Likewise, the General State Administration will promote coordination and cooperation among administrations to ensure the coherent and effective implementation of the conservation measures established in the regulation.