Menorca, paradise in and out of the water
"The sea is, without a doubt, one of the main elements that have shaped the island of Minorca . The onslaught of the waves have sculpted the coast over millennia and have caused coves and bays, fine sand beaches and stony boulders. It has carved cliffs, excavated caves and sharpened headlands and reefs that stick out alone into the sea."
"Menorca still preserves landscapes and marine communities that have already disappeared in a large part of the Mediterranean coasts , with a quality and diversity that are difficult to match”, states the website of Menorca, Biosphere Reserve.
It is not necessary for its experts to swear to it: last year, Cala Macarella, located on this island, was chosen by the readers of Traveler as the best beach in Spain . But also beyond the sand, in the little piece of the Mediterranean that surrounds the island, great treasures are hidden. For example, extensive and well-preserved meadows of oceanic posidonia , the plant that, by filtering it, gives the water of the archipelago its crystalline quality.
There are also brown algae, coralligenous species and magnificent maerl beds, a very productive habitat, with a great diversity of organisms. All this marine life is necessary for the conservation of large numbers of birds and cetaceans, such as the bottlenose dolphin or the striped dolphin.
For all these reasons, it is not surprising that this Balearic paradise has managed to get UNESCO to approve the expansion of its area declared as a Biosphere Reserve , causing it to cover up to 12 miles out to sea. Thus, the new protected territory will go from 70,000 to 500,000 hectares, thereby constituting the largest Marine Biosphere Reserve in the Mediterranean.
The Posidonia de Menorca funds are in an excellent state of conservation
“The main purpose of this extension has been the coherence ”, he explains Felix de Pablo Pons , technician in biodiversity of the Consell Insular de Menorca. "It did not seem logical that a Biosphere Reserve such as Menorca, which is an island territory, would not have an important part of its extension that was sea."
But what exactly does it mean for a territory to be declared a Biosphere Reserve? As explained from Menorca, these are internationally recognized areas in which human activity is carried out in a way that is compatible with conservation of natural resources and cultural heritage. Its main objective is to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environment.
However, as Pons points out, this title is not associated with any legislative figure that protects the territory . “It only implies the interest of a region in developing in a sustainable way and trying to ensure that all its economic activities are carried out in harmony with the environment”, he details. However, the person in charge assures that it is an important bastion so that, in the future, management policies are implemented and regulations are drawn up that improve the conservation of these areas.
LOCAL SUPPORT
The extension could not have gone ahead if it had not been for the local support of Menorcans: "The island society has supported the project since its creation and also in the current phase of expansion," recalls Pons. Thus, various local associations held workshops to design the project, and, finally, between the inhabitants and the technicians of different administrations, the most appropriate design was chosen . So much so that, according to the technician, "the definitive proposal was not the one preferred by the management of the Menorca Biosphere Reserve, but it was the one most supported by the entire island community."