The LIFE+ INDEMARES Project in brief
It is a LIFE+ (LIFE07NAT / E / 000732) project funded 50% by the European Commission,
carried out from January 2009 to December 2014. It has integrated the work of
institutions of reference in the field of management, research and conservation of the
marine environment, with the contribution of other marine stakeholders. Coordinated
by the Biodiversity Foundation, the project had nine other partners: the Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Environment; the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), the
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), ALNITAK, the Coordination for the Study
of Marine Mammals (CEMMA), OCEANA, the Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the
Canary Archipelago (SECAC), SEO/BirdLife and WWF Spain
Marine Special Protection Areas
(SPAs) in Spain
It has contributed to the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Spanish seas
through the study, characterisation and inclusion of sites in the Natura 2000 Network:
Preserving our birds, preserving our seas
• 10 marine targeted areas, proposed to the EC to be designated as
Sites of Community Importance (SCIs), and eventually to be declared
as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
• 39 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designated, based on the inventory
of marine Important Bird Areas (IBAs).
Overall, the project brings more than 70,000 Km2 to the Spanish Natura 2000 network,
multiplying by 8 the protected marine area (which reaches more than 8% of territorial
waters). Thus, Spain moves significantly forward in its compliance with the European
Habitats and Birds Directives, by extending the Natura 2000 network to the entire
marine environment. The project also contributes to achieving the target set by the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United Nations, of which Spain is a
signatory, to designate as protected at least 10% of the World´s oceans.
Photo front page: J. M. Arcos
Edited by: SEO/BirdLife 2014.
Balearic Shearwater - Puffinus mauretanicus
Audouin’s Gull - Larus audouinii
Finally, INDEMARES has settled the basis for the future management plans of the
Natura 2000 marine sites, by providing a proposal of management guidelines, and by
initiating the participatory process to elaborate those plans.
What is Natura 2000?
INDEMARES: the leap to the marine environment
Natura 2000 is the widest network of nature protection areas in Europe, and comes out from the main
environmental directives of the European Union (EU). There are two types of Natura 2000 sites:
 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)* according to the Habitats Directive, and
 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) according to the Birds Directive.
*
SACs are designated by Member States after the initially proposed sites (Sites
of Community Importance, SCIs) are approved by the European Commission.
Slender-billed Gull - Chroicocephalus genei
Within the frame of INDEMARES, 10 new marine SCIs have been proposed to the European
Commission, and 39 new marine SPAs have been designated by the Spanish Government,
mostly large areas that add nearly 70,000 Km2 to the Natura 2000 network in Spain.
J. M. Arcos
This way, Natura 2000 extends its coverage to the
entire marine environment, and multiply by eight its
sea surface (passing to cover 8% of Spanish maritime
territory)
J. M. Arcos
Why protecting sites for seabirdas at sea? What do we protect with the marine SPAs?
Attending to the conservation and the study of seabirds is important for two main reasons:
1) Seabirds represent the most threatened group of birds globally: over a third of the 346
known species are threatened, some to the brink of extinction.
J. M. Arcos
Arnaud Abadie (flickr.com)
2) Seabirds are easy to observe both at sea and in their breeding colonies ashore; and, as
marine predators, they integrate information of what happens in the ecosystem. Therefore,
they are excellent indicators of the marine environment.
Short-beaked common dolphin - Delfinus delphis
What are the of goals Natura 2000? What
are the implications for human activities?
• Migratory corridors: areas that concentrate the
The marine environment, however, was largely
neglected: 298 SCIs and 135 SPAs marine or
maritime-terrestrial totalled only about 1% of the
Spanish marine territory.
Most of the designated spaces do not have management
plans in place, particularly those at sea.
flow of migrating seabirds. Straits and channels are
the most obvious corridors, but other coastal areas
can also act as such.
Balearic Shearwater - Puffinus mauretanicus
• Foraging areas at sea: unrelated to the breeding
colonies, those areas tend to congregate seabirds
for their high food availability. These may be either
coastal or pelagic.
J. M. Arcos
What condition is the Natura 2000
network in Spain?
Spain held 1449 SCIs and 598 SPAs designated up
to 2013, mostly terrestrial or maritime-terrestrial
spaces, covering about 27% of the land surface.
Juan Bécares - ULL
Cory’s Shearwater - Calonectris diomedea
Beneharo Rodríguez
areas that show high seabird density for being
adjacent to the breeding sites. Seabirds may forage
there, or just fly across in their commuting trips
between the nest and distant foraging areas.
J. M. Arcos
Loggerhead sea turtle - Caretta caretta
• Seaward extensions to the breeding colonies:
J. M. Arcos
The Natura 2000 network aims to preserve the
natural values of each site while looking for the
maximum compatibility with the human activities
developed there, through management plans
tailored to each case. These plans promote the
uses that favour social and economic sustainability,
while restrictions may involve activities that have
a severe impact on the environment.
Despite the high mobility that characterises seabirds, which allows them to travel thousands of miles
throughout their annual cycle, they tend to use certain areas persistently, so that the designation of
these areas as SPAs makes sense. According to the use that seabirds make of them, three different
types of areas can be differentiated:
Often, these areas are important not only for birds but also for many other marine biota, so the SPAs
may act as an umbrella that contributes to the conservation of the marine ecosystem as a whole.
Band-rumped Storm Petrel - Oceanodroma castro
Until the achievement of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project, most of Natura 2000 marine areas
in Spain were small and coastal, often marine stripes adjacent to land sites.
J. M. Arcos
How were the new marine SPAs identified?
The new marine SPAs were based on the inventory of marine Important Bird Areas (IBAs) elaborated
by SEO/BirdLife within the frame of a LIFE project (LIFE04NAT/ES000049) that preceded INDEMARES.
INDEMARES allowed strengthening the marine IBA inventory by:
 Providing additional information, which allowed confirming the importance of the IBAs and
their stability over time.
Distribution model for the European
Storm Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus)
in waters off Eastern Iberia in a given
year (left) and integrating several
years (right)
 Strengthening the coverage in areas of difficult access, and confirming two spaces that were
proposed as just candidate marine IBAs in the previous project due to insufficient data: the
Banco de Galicia and Banco de la Concepción seamounts.
 Studying in detail the use that seabirds make of the sites proposed, as well as their interaction
with human activities (and, therefore, evaluating threats).
The identification of the marine SPAs was based on scientific criteria, combining information from
different sources, mainly:
Óscar Macián
J. M. Arcos
 Boat surveys conducting transect counts (over 60,000 Km covered).
Among the techniques used to analyse these
data, habitat modelling was a very useful tool,
which allowed understanding why the identified
areas were important, and helped to draw
boundaries in an environment where these are
not obvious.
Audouin’ Gull - Larus audounii
European Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis
The methodology developed for the identification of the marine IBAs, developed in coordination with BirdLife International and several
experts, largely contributed to set a standard
procedure for the identification of IBAs/SPAs in
other EU countries, and IBAs elsewhere.
Balearic Shearwater - Puffinus mauretanicus
Boat survey coverage during the seabird transect counts
conducted to identify the marine SPAs in Spain.
J. M. Arcos
 Remote seabird tracking using different devices (GPS loggers, satellite transmitters and
others; in total about 1000 marked birds of 6 species, and nearly one million locations).
Balearic Shearwater - Puffinus mauretanicus
J. M. Arcos
J. M. Arcos
J. M. Arcos
Remote tracking seabird locations
used to identify the marine SPAs.
The Spanish marine SPA network in a glimpse
With INDEMARES, the network of marine SPAs
incorporated 39 new sites and 49,124 Km2,
representing a 20-fold increase in area coverage.
As a result, the SPAs network is now formed by
174 sites and 51,788 Km2, slightly more than 5%
of the Spanish marine territory. It extends from
the coast to cover a representative fraction
of all the Spanish territorial waters, thus
addressing for the first time the full protection
of the pelagic seabirds, as well as that of more
coastal species.
The SPAs network holds wide
seabird diversity, with over 40
regular species. Of those, 27 present
significant regional or global numbers
and provided the basis for the
designation of the sites.
The priority 27 seabirds include the 16 species
listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive (those
considered particularly sensitive by European
law) with breeding populations in Spain, which
have been the main goal of the LIFE projects.
In addition, 11 other species were taken into
account due to their unfavourable conservation
status according to other lists, and/or their
migratory nature. These include breeding,
wintering and migratory species.
The SPAs will contribute to the conservation
of these birds, by specifically managing the
threats at sea that they face, focused in the
most sensitive areas. The SPAs network includes
seaward extensions to breeding colonies,
migratory corridors and foraging areas at sea
(both coastal and pelagic). INDEMARES has
particularly contributed to the designation of
areas offshore.
Leaving aside the smaller and coastal sites
previously designated, the new SPAs added 11
more sites in the Marine Demarcation of the
Canary Islands, 8 in the North Atlantic, 3 in
the South Atlantic, 3 in the Strait of Gibraltar-
J. M. Arcos
Balearic Shearwater - Puffinus mauretanicus
Geographical patterns of the SPAs
network, with attention to the Marine
Strategies’ Demarcations
Alboran Sea and 14 in the Levantine-Balearic.
Each region has its own physical and biotic
characteristics, and its particular seabird
communities, which has significantly influenced
the type of sites identified in each case.
The Canary and Balearic Islands mainly host
seabird extensions to breeding colonies, while
peninsular waters are more relevant for foraging
areas and, secondly, migration hotspots.
What does the designation of a marine
SPA imply? Constraints and opportunities
Upon designation, a management plan will be
developed for each SPA to govern the uses and
activities, within two years.
Management actions will aim to minimise the
identified threats to the seabirds and their
habitats, and to either keep the relevant
populations at current levels or recover them
if appropriate.
The main philosophy is not based on
prohibition, but on proper management
of the human activities to ensure a
minimum impact. It is also possible to
promote the activities that are most
compatible with the environment,
which often are the activities with a
wider social impact.
Broadly speaking, management actions might
include:
 To raise awareness among the marine
stakeholders and the general public about the
need to manage those activities that have an
impact on the seabirds and their environment,
and to seek for agreed solutions through
participative processes.
 Promote activities and uses that are
respectful with the environment.
 To conduct strict impact assessment studies
of any activities carried out in the SPAs.
 Implement actions to mitigate the impact
of those activities that have a negative impact
on the seabirds and/or their habitat, and to
evaluate their efficacy.
Spain: a seabird hotspot
In danger: between the land and the sea
Spain is the country with the highest diversity of seabirds in Europe: from the small storm-petrels (25 g) to the large
gannets (over 3 kg and almost 2 m wingspan), from the most accomplished divers (auks and cormorants) to the
most skilful gliders (shearwaters), about 40 species are found regularly in Spain and more than 20 nest there.
By alternating between the land and the sea, seabirds face a wide array of threats, that make of them the
most threatened group of birds in the world: over a third of the 346 known species are threatened globally,
some of them to the brink of extinction. Spain is no exception, and hosts 16 breeding species listed as sensitive
at European level (Annex I of the EU Birds Directive), as well as other non-breeding species also included in that
list or covered by other international conventions. The Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is on top of
the list, as it is regarded as the most endangered bird in Europe.
Seabirds are very long-lived species – they can live over 60 years! –
that reproduce very slowly (many species lay only one egg per year).
Therefore, they also react slowly to changes in the environment,
which can cause drastic declines in their populations.
Map 1. GPS data have
revealed
the
enormous
distances that some seabirds
cover to commute between
their
breeding
colonies
(located
in
quiet
and
inaccessible places, free of
terrestrial predators, such
as islets) and their foraging
grounds (often in highly
productive marine areas,
either coastal or well offshore
depending on the species).
This type of information is key
to address the conservation
of these sensitive seabirds.
The figure shows examples
of foraging trips by Cory’s
shearwaters tagged with GPSloggers in different Spanish
colonies during INDEMARES.
At sea
Map 2. After breeding, several Northern Hemisphere
species move to Southern Hemisphere waters, richer in
food during our winter months (austral summer). For the
same reason, some of the Southern Hemisphere seabirds
travel to the north after breeding, visiting our waters during
the boreal summer. The map shows the migration routes
of three seabird species, as inferred from remote tracking
data (light-sensitive geolocation loggers).
• Fisheries can benefit seabirds by providing
extra food (discards), but also contribute to
the reduction of their natural prey. And, more
directly, seabird bycatch (the accidental
capture of seabirds in some fishing gear
types) is one of the major threats to
many species, while it also represents a
nuisance for fishermen, and can even
cause economic losses. Fortunately, there
are simple ways to minimise bycatch, such
as the use of “tori-lines” to keep the birds
away from the vessels, which benefit both
birds and fishermen.
• New uses of the sea, such as windfarm development,
may pose new threats to seabirds. And ultimately, the
accelerated pace of global change alters an environment
to which seabirds have adapted over millennia, thus
posing a threat both to their populations and to the entire
marine ecosystem.
Seabirds usually breed in colonies that can hold up to several hundred thousand pairs, and are often located in
inaccessible sites such as remote islands and seacliffs. But they spend most of their lives at sea, where they find their food.
Often the best feeding areas are far from the breeding grounds, so many species are adapted to travel long distances,
up to hundreds or even thousands of miles, to provide food to their chicks (Map 1). Even more spectacular are the trips
undertaken after breeding, which can lead from one end of the globe to the other (Map 2)
.
What should we do?
We must be aware of the increasing deterioration of our
seas, and take steps to reverse this trend. Among them:
Promote
integrated
and
coordinated
management of the marine environment, seeking
the sustainability of resources for the benefit of all.
• Pollution is one of the most serious threats to seabirds. It is
particularly striking in the case of oil spills, which often cause
the simultaneous death of thousands of birds. But “background”
pollution can have an even greater impact, although it is harder to
perceive.
Develop and implement recovery and
conservation plans for endangered species.
Create marine protected areas (MPAs) to
preserve the best biodiversity hotspots. Many
MPAs seek to achieve this aim without precluding
human uses, through specifically designed
management plans. This is the case of Natura
2000, a network of protected areas under the EU
Habitats (SCIs) and Birds (SPAs) Directives.
Within this context, the project LIFE+ INDEMARES
(LIFE07NAT/E/000732) joined the efforts of 10 partner
institutions (administrations, research centres and
NGOs) with the aim of extending the Spanish Natura
2000 network in the marine environment, on a
scientific basis and looking for the implication of all
stakeholders. The project added 49 new sites and
over 70,000 km2, representing an 8-fold increase in
coverage. This way, Spain becomes an example for
other countries in terms of MPA designation.
On land
Legend for the seabirds’ plate
Spanish geographical sectors
considered for the distribution and
phenology of the seabird species
• Terrestrial predators (such as cats and
rats) introduced by humans into seabird
breeding colonies have caused and
still cause severe damage to many
populations.
• Coastal development has reduced the
availability of suitable breeding sites.
• Light pollution –related to coastal
development– poses a further threat,
as birds (particularly fledglings) can get
disoriented and end up stranded inland.
Spanish geographical
sectors outlined
schematically
Present all
year round
Breeding
Globally threatened
(IUCN)
Non-breeding
Migration
EU threatened
(Annex I Birds Directive)
The white dot denotes that the
species is scarce