The initiative has a budget of nearly one million euros. The working team is composed of specialists from around twenty entities from 12 countries
The Marine Research Centre of the University of Vigo (CIM), led by researcher Elena Ojea, is participating in an Interreg Mediterranean Space project aimed at increasing the resilience, good environmental status, and sustainable use of marine resources in the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of this geographical area. The project, called MPA4Change, is coordinated by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and, in addition to the CIM of the UVigo, includes nine other beneficiary entities and 17 associated entities from 12 countries, ranging from Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany to Tunisia, Morocco, Malta, and Croatia—a whole international network working together for the environment. The initiative has a budget of nearly one million euros, of which around 90,000 correspond to the CIM.
Mediterranean marine ecosystems and the human livelihoods that depend on them are being affected by rising water temperatures, heatwaves, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification and deoxygenation. Additionally, the effects of overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution are also reshaping the structure and functioning of marine habitats, whose loss of biodiversity impacts the services that depend on their quality, such as fishing or coastal protection. In this context, MPA4Change aims to create an action plan for Mediterranean MPAs to ensure their long-term sustainability, as well as transfer the learning from previous MPA projects in the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, hence the involvement of the Atlantic Islands National Park.
The ultimate goal is to increase the capacity to adapt to climate change by improving the effectiveness of MPAs and their restoration, enhancing stakeholder coordination and cooperation, and strengthening awareness and environmental culture regarding climate change.
Elena Ojea: “We are involved in most of the tasks”
The project aims, on the one hand, to improve the capacity of MPAs to adapt to climate change and, on the other, to support political dialogue, as well as contribute to the implementation of the action plan through the creation of a group of specialists who will guide the process beyond the duration of the project. CIM researcher Elena Ojea comments on this: “To achieve this, we designed a transfer and training project in which we help MPAs adapt to climate change by providing tools, creating a group of experts to guide the process, and fostering political dialogue in the Mediterranean and European context”.
Ojea acknowledges that “we are involved in most of the tasks carried out within the framework of the project and, specifically, we will coordinate the fine-tuning and transfer of the already consolidated toolkits developed in previous Interreg-Euro-Med projects (MPA-Adapt and MPA-Engage) and tested in different protected areas of the Mediterranean”. Additionally, Vigo will also lead the task of carbon footprint assessment and mitigation actions to contribute to a climate-neutral society.
During these first months of work—started in January—the CIM team has been updating and improving the web tool developed in the MPA-Engage project so that MPA managers can carry out the study of the climate vulnerability of their areas. In this way, they can design specific adaptation and mitigation plans against the effects of climate change observed in their respective territories. Furthermore, they have also had the opportunity to collaborate in various dissemination and transfer actions aimed at stakeholders across the Mediterranean thanks to a mapping of key actors as well as potential end users for the transfer.
Source: DUVI