Ocean restoration is key if Spain is to increase its resilience to marine heatwaves and the climate crisis
Press Release Date: August 31, 2026
Location: Madrid
Contact:
Emily Fairless | email: efairless@oceana.org | tel.: +32 478 038 490
Oceana condemns the government’s failure to publicly share its draft National Restoration Plan during the consultation process
Madrid – Tomorrow, Spain must submit its draft National Restoration Plan (NRP) to the European Commission. Oceana deplores the Ministry for the Ecological Transition’s lack of transparency, by withholding the final draft from the public. Oceana is concerned that the plan may not include sufficiently ambitious measures at a time when Spain’s waters are on the frontline of increasingly frequent and intense marine heatwaves. Investing in the restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems is crucial to improving their health and resilience in the face of the climate crisis.
Throughout the 22-month consultation process, which included four roundtable discussions and a written consultation, little information was disclosed about the NRP’s specific marine measures, leaving civil society organisations and experts in the dark about the proposals Spain intends to put forward. Regarding marine habitats, which fall under the exclusive competence of the central government, the Ministry for Ecological Transition has tried to justify this lack of transparency by stating that the NRP is still awaiting validation by the other ministries involved in its development.
In December last year, the government announced a State Pact in response to the Climate Emergency, with a 10-point plan, including ways to advance ocean protection due to its role in mitigating the impacts of heatwaves and coastal floodings.
Helena Álvarez, senior marine scientist at Oceana in Europe, said: “The Nature Restoration Plan is central to delivering the Climate Pact. Allowing nature to recover will be more cost-efficient than bearing the costs of environmental and economic degradation due to the climate crisis. An ambitious Plan is much needed for Spain to strengthen the resilience of its coastal areas and tackle its climate emergency. This will in turn secure the future of fisheries and ocean-dependent communities.”
Restoring and effectively protecting degraded marine habitats can increase ecosystem resilience, giving them a better chance of coping with increasingly severe marine heatwaves and other extreme weather events.
Oceana maintains that passive restoration at sea, where no extractive activity occurs (so-called “no-take zones”), is the most cost-effective form of marine restoration, and should be prioritized in the NRP. The NGO has already put forward concrete, science-based proposals that the environment ministry can incorporate into the NRP, including those outlined in its report 50 Marine Refuges for Spain, which identifies fifty priority areas where passive restoration should be put in place to restore seagrass meadows, kelp forests and key habitats for endangered species such as guitarfish or bamboo corals. Such no-take zones currently represent far less than 1% of Spanish waters. Establishing more of them would put Spain on a path towards meeting its national commitment of strictly protecting 10% of its waters by 2030.
Background:
Under the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, EU Member States must submit their draft national restoration plans to the Commission by 1 September 2026. The European Commission has 6 months to assess the drafts and provide feedback. Spain will then have to finalize and publish its national plan by September 2027.
