Redeia, the parent company of Red Eléctrica, and the Ecomar Foundation announced this Wednesday the launch of the 'Marine Forest’ platform. This is a strategic alliance to drive the restoration of marine ecosystems between now and 2030. Its first project involves the revival of Posidonia oceanica meadows off the coast of the region of Valencia, an initiative that enjoys the institutional support of the Regional Government.

The platform was officially presented in the context of the scientific seminar that invited experts in marine ecosystems and representatives of scientific and administrative bodies to the military aerodrome of Pollença in Mallorca to discuss the importance of conserving the biodiversity of seas and oceans.

The ‘Marine Forest’ platform is aligned with the European Union’s recent Nature Restoration Law and is intended to restore the largest number of marine habitats prior to its 2030 horizon, either directly or through the promotion of public collaboration.

During the presentation, Eva Pagán, Corporate Director of Sustainability and Research at Redeia, affirmed that ‘marine ecosystems are one of the principal reserves of the Earth’s biodiversity and are vital to human survival because of the CO2 they absorb and the oxygen they produce. They are, however, seriously threatened. With this alliance we are going to encourage their regeneration and promote research and public awareness, sharing the technical and scientific knowledge we acquire with society. 

For her part, Theresa Zabell, chairwoman of the Ecomar Foundation, stressed that “the ‘Marine Forest’ platform sprang from the alliance of two entities that have already worked on the conservation of marine ecosystems who can bring all their knowledge and available resources to bear on this cause. We are going to start with an initial project focusing on posidonia, but our goal in the future will be to expand our area of operations to other geographical areas and other marine species.

The opening of the seminar and presentation of the ‘Marine Forest’ also benefited from the participation and support of representatives of the Governments of the Balearic Islands, Valencia and the Government Delegation to the islands.

Redeia and Ecomar unite their experience and knowledge

Redeia and Ecomar will apply their knowledge from their prior experience in restoring marine ecosystems to the projects undertaken by the ‘Marine Forest’ platform. 
On the one hand, they will use the same scientific approach to restoring posidonia that was developed by Redeia and its subsidiary Red Eléctrica in the Bay of Pollença (Mallorca). The commitment to ensure that the undersea electrical link between Talamanca (Ibiza) and the Bay of Santa Ponsa (Mallorca) would have a minimal impact on this plant species led the company to start a project in 2014 for research, conservation and environmental education that resulted in a successful method for collecting and planting - developed alongside IMEDEA-CSIC - that ensured the recovery of two hectares of meadow. The method has won awards at national and European level and is the first to achieve a survival rate of 95% after 6 years from the first planting.

On the other hand, the platform will also include the innovations and learning that Ecomar acquires from its project in the Mediterranean basin that will start this winter.  The goal of this Ecomar project is to restore more than three hectares of posidonia through an initiative financed jointly by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), through its Pleamar Programme 2023 with the collaboration of Redeia. It will use the methodology developed by Red Eléctrica and the IMEDEA-CSIC.