During 2020 researchers from the Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo participated, together with the Vigo Port Authority, in the first phase of the Peiraos do Solpor project, an initiative that aims to recover and value biodiversity marine port ecosystems while turning these areas into a tool for awareness and enjoyment for citizens.
This first stage, called PuertAlMar, concludes this week its scientific and informative activities. In fact, this Thursday a series of informative panels were presented in the port of Vigo as well as a balance of the efficiency of the submersible structures for the settlement of marine organisms installed by the CIM-UVigo scientists. Present at this closing ceremony were the president of the Vigo Port Authority, Jesús Vázquez Almuíña, along with researchers from the Coastal Ecology Group of the Marine Research Center (CIM-UVigo) Jesús Troncoso, Mariano Lastra and Jesús López, among others, as well as a representative of the Cultural and Sports Association of the port.
187 species colonized artificial reefs
With the end of the PuertAlMar project, Promotion of the recovery of altered areas in maritime-port environments and its benefits for the development of fishing activities: awareness and dissemination, the first phase of the initiative of the Port Authority of Vigo Peiraos do Solpor concludes, which was awarded with the Oscar for the Environment. During its execution, the UVigo research team designed and installed various structures to facilitate the restoration of coastal areas affected by port infrastructures. The monitoring carried out during the 12 months after the installation of these “artificial underwater reefs for the settlement of organisms”, as explained by Professor Souza Troncoso, made it possible to verify that 187 species were attached to them, which translates into a capture of CO2 greater than 6 Kg per square meter.
Disclosure, the other leg of the project
Funded by the Biodiversity Foundation through the Pleamar Program, the PuertAlMar project has, in addition to the scientific component, a very prominent outreach aspect. During this part of the campaign, developed in recent weeks, the results of the project were made known through different activities, emphasizing the importance of marine port ecosystems, the integration of industrial activities, as well as the need for conserve and recover altered coastal ecosystems. For this, conferences were held both with professionals from the sector, as well as with schoolchildren and with the general public.
The objective, in addition to disseminating and pursuing greater environmental awareness in society, was to seek synergies that would enhance actions to promote nature conservation. For this, the Vigo Port Authority, with the collaboration of the Melilla Port Authority and the University of Vigo, gave several online workshops with about 400 schoolchildren and 50 professionals from the blue economy sector.
Another of the informative initiatives launched consists of the installation of the interpretive panels presented this Thursday, located in the Laxe dock and in which the public will be able to observe the colonization and ecological succession of the port coastline. The posters are equipped with QR codes to access to multimedia content.
Finally, the last of the PuertAlMar activities will take place tomorrow, with a visit organized by the Vigo Port Authority with the collaboration of the University of Vigo and the Cultural and Sports Association of the port to the area where underwater structures and panels are installed. The purpose of the tour is to make the workers of the olive terminal and their families know what these docks consist of and, to do so, they will have an underwater drone that will allow attendees to immerse themselves in these marine gardens generated from artificial structures submerged by researchers from CIM-UVigo.
This Thursday a series of informative panels were inaugurated in Laxe dock
Source: DUVI