The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition has launched an APP to locate marine areas protected by the presence of posidonia. GVA Anchors
GVA FONDEA
GVA Fondea is an application aimed at mobile devices, especially boats, and incorporates recently updated cartography for the conservation of marine vegetation and biodiversity.
The GVA Fondea application has all the updated information of the cartography that allows to geolocate the situation of these meadows, the new tool is accessible and simple. It also facilitates the location of these areas in order to comply with the obligation not to damage them and to collaborate with the preservation of Mediterranean forests.
The application has been developed by the Directorate General of Information and Communication Technologies (DGTIC) of the Government of Catalonia at the proposal of the Directorate General of Fisheries.
In the future, other utilities will be added, such as the location of marine reserves of fishing interest and also areas closed or with certain restrictions on fishing activities, thus channelling useful information to the user.
The bay of Altea is one of the areas with the highest number of high-value oceanic posidonia in the whole of the Valencian Community.POSIDONIA
Posidonia oceanica is a plant native to the Mediterranean that provides abundant benefits to the marine environment and is very present in the waters of the Valencian Community. It provides shelter and food for a wide variety of species of fauna, as well as oxygenating and filtering the coastal waters, improving their quality and transparency.
Its importance for the balance of the Mediterranean Sea has led it to be included as a priority habitat in the European Union’s Habitats Directive. In order to contribute to its protection, in 2022 the Regional Ministry of Ecological Transition drew up the Decree for the Conservation of Seagrass Meadows in the Valencian Community. This decree establishes the need to avoid the regression of this vegetation caused mainly by pollution, trawling, coastal infrastructure works, aggregate extraction and anchoring of boats.
The Decree includes the updating of an underwater cartography on the location of these plants, to avoid possible damage caused by boats, and as a prior step to the prohibition of anchoring boats in areas of high value for this marine vegetation.
