The Port Authority of Cartagena is carrying out a project that will provide scientific knowledge to improve the compatibility of port activity with the conservation of the valuable terrestrial and marine spaces in its surroundings. As part of its commitment to environmental management, the Port Authority of Cartagena is a pioneer among Spanish Ports in paying specific attention to the protection of biodiversity, in this case in collaboration with the Mediterranean Ecosystems Research Group (ECOMED) of the Department of Ecology and Hydrology of the University of Murcia.
This project will allow a systematic monitoring with continuity over time, aimed at knowing the evolution of numerous indicators of faunal biodiversity (presence and nesting of species, demography, behavior and interactions, threats) and their relationship with the activities carried out in the port. All this will help to improve the design and implementation of measures for the protection, conservation and improvement of biodiversity already undertaken by the Port Authority of Cartagena. In addition, it will serve to expand the knowledge base on a set of species and taxocenoses of great scientific interest and conservation value, complementing the monitoring work already being carried out by the administration and other scientific and conservationist entities with which the Port of Cartagena collaborates.
The area of influence of the Port of Cartagena is a stretch of coastline that is home to 11 areas of the European Natura 2000 network, 4 of which are designated as Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPA), both on land and at sea. At its ends are also located two Marine Reserves of fishing interest. It is, therefore, a strategic habitat for fauna, especially seabirds, which nest in inaccessible points of islands, islets and stretches of cliffy coastline.
As stated in the Strategic Framework of the Port System of General Interest, “care for biodiversity is not limited to these specific protected areas. The coastal strips, both emerged and submerged, have habitats whose biodiversity must be preserved and enhanced, particularly in relation to endangered species”. For this reason, the Port Authority of Cartagena studies the distribution, abundance, nesting and activity of birds of wide vital domains such as diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey, and of other faunal taxocenoses that are distributed along the mountain ranges and other coastal environments, interacting with industrial, commercial, fishing and transport activities, against which they acquire a notable indicator value.
For four years (2024-2028), the project will address the distribution, demography, where and how species nest and what is the activity of birds that interact with the industrial, tourist and fishing life of the port of Cartagena, in order to know the interaction of these activities with the ecosystem, expand scientific knowledge of the biodiversity of the Mediterranean coast of the Region and improve and expand the control measures and environmental management already implemented by the Port Authority of Cartagena for years.