CIMAR-LA researchers were received on Monday by the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, with the aim of presenting an open letter entitled “For a national restoration plan that does not leave the sea behind”.
Researchers from CIMAR-LA were received on Monday by the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, with the aim of presenting the open letter – “For a national restoration plan that does not leave the sea behind”, launched and signed by hundreds of subscribers since November 2024.
During the hearing, the researchers conveyed to the Minister the importance of the sea playing a central role in the national restoration plan appropriate to the size of the national maritime space, the strategic importance of the sea for the country, and the urgent need to protect marine biodiversity.
With this objective in mind, the researchers discussed with the Minister ways of achieving this, filling gaps in knowledge about the marine environment so that effective measures can be outlined in the restoration plan focused on the Portuguese sea. According to the researchers, the plan represents an opportunity for the country to expand the limited knowledge base available on marine biodiversity in order to protect and conserve it.
Marine habitats in poor condition
It is widely known that Portugal has many degraded marine habitats, including priority habitats under the Nature Restoration Regulation, such as seagrass beds, macroalgae forests, and sponge and coral gardens. According to the Biodiversity Information System for Europe, habitat degradation is due to the cumulative effects of human pressures such as unsustainable fishing, climate change, pollution, coastal urbanisation and the spread of invasive species, and jeopardises “vital benefits provided by marine biodiversity to society, such as climate regulation, natural protection of coastal areas, food security, livelihoods, local economies and the culture of coastal communities”, the letter states.
An oceanic country
“Portugal is an oceanic country, with an extensive maritime area of incalculable natural value,” says the open letter. “More than 97% of the national territory is sea. This maritime area – one of the largest in the world under national jurisdiction – is home to a great diversity of marine life, the conservation of which is a ‘top priority’ for the Portuguese State,” the researchers believe.
The open letter, launched on 16 November 2024, Nacional Sea Day, has so far gathered more than 600 signatories, including the directors of the main R&D institutions in the field of Marine Sciences, researchers, teachers, representatives of national environmental non-governmental organisations and people from various areas of civil society.
Photo by Ministry for the Environment and Energy
