MARE is participating in the public consultations for management of aquatic ecosystems

Since the beginning of this year, ICNF – Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests has promoted the organization of public consultations aimed at defining the Management Plans for Sites of Community Importance (SIC) included in the national territory. This planning requires an even more rigorous assessment when there is the occurrence of species included in the Habitats Directive (e.g., such as sea lamprey, Atlantic salmon, shad, among others), which have a high value socioeconomic for the regions and are the target of exploitation in professional or recreational fishing activities. MARE, one of the R&D units that assumes, at national level, a greater contribution to the definition of public policies and resolution of social challenges in the area of ​​management and protection of aquatic ecosystems, has participated actively in these sessions, with several of its researchers involved in work sessions aimed, for example, at ZEC Rio Minho and ZPE Estuários do Minho and Coura, ZEC Rio Lima, ZEC Rio Paiva and ZEC Guadiana, in order to contribute with their knowledge and experience for a more sustainable management of the areas in question and their natural resources.

These public meetings are essential, as they bring together administrative entities, higher education institutions, local associations and other interested entities, to assess and diagnose existing problems in the special protection areas in question, thus encouraging the sharing of different points of view. and proposals for its management. The management plans resulting from these sessions could serve as a starting point for improving management measures and conservation of resources, in order to make it possible, in the short-medium term, to resolve the problems identified.