Oceana volunteers to join the working group that will launch the works for the enlargement of Cabrera
It was unanimously agreed in 2011 to create a working committee to make progress in the project for the enlargement of Cabrera, yet it has not yet been launched
Press Release Date: May 27, 2013
Location: Madrid
Contact:
Oceana Web | email: webadmin@oceana.org | tel.: 202.000.0000
In the first meeting of the Board of Trustees for the Cabrera National Park, Oceana demanded that the agreements reached in the session of June 2011 be honoured, by which it was unanimously agreed to work on the international marine conservation organisation’s proposal for the enlargement of the Park. Today Oceana volunteered to join the working team which it was decided to establish then in order to monitor the project and examine the steps required for enlargement.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Severiano Quevedo, ratified the commitment to examine the enlargement proposal, although he believes that work should start after certain legal problems are overcome, which are being currently solved thanks to the new national park law.
“The agreements reached in the Board of Trustees must be honoured”, says Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europa. “We will make every effort to facilitate progress in the enlargement of Cabrera, in order to turn it into the main National Park in the Mediterranean. In fact, we have volunteered to be part of the working group and start the work required for the enlargement as soon as possible”.
Oceana has also expressed its deep concern over the drastic reduction of marine surveillance, as professional ship masters are no longer available to handle the vessels, and the Environment Agent can no longer carry out their surveillance work.
The dramatic cutbacks in the Park budget and the abandonment of the monitoring studies of marine resources and fishing activities are other issues that should be urgently solved in order for the only national park in the Balearics to operate adequately.
“If the condition of marine resources is not known, it is not possible to know whether the management measures being carried out are effective, and whether corrective measures should be taken”, states Marta Carreras, a marine scientist with Oceana. “This monitoring is mandatory according to Park regulations, and it must be reinstated in order to ensure its good operation”.
Oceana has requested that the Park reports and execution programme specify the total budget allocated to Cabrera and the budget actually used, in an exercise of transparency that will enable all citizens to adequately assess management of this natural park. It is currently impossible to do so.
