The LIFE INTEMARES project ( http://intemares.es/) is the largest marine conservation project in Europe. It began in 2017 and aims to establish an effectively managed network of Natura 2000 marine sites, with the active participation of the relevant sectors and research serving as key tools for decision-making. More than 770 organizations have participated in various activities, and since 2021, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, along with three other partners—the Regional Government of Andalusia (through the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development, and the Agency for the Environment and Water), the AZTI technology center, and the University of Alicante, have joined the project.
The initiatives in which researchers and professors from the MEMIC at the UPV’s Gandia Campus are participating, coordinated by Víctor Espinosa, are: i) long-term observation of the seafloor, ii) satellite tagging and tracking of loggerhead sea turtles, and iii) unmanned underwater vehicles for habitat monitoring.
Work is currently underway to develop the foundation for a versatile, Lander-type multiparameter platform capable of integrating various sensors to monitor aspects such as the presence of protected species, near-bottom oceanographic dynamics, and so on; the platform is intended to be deployed at various locations within the Marine Natura 2000 Network. In addition, through the tagging and satellite tracking of loggerhead sea turtles and other marine species, it will be possible to establish strategies for their protection and to understand the degree of connectivity between the different protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network.
The European Project LIFE INTEMARES, is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and aims to advance the expansion of marine protected areas and their effective management.