The environmental education program of the LIFE ECOREST project has been launched with the goal of raising awareness in the educational community about the natural values of deep marine habitats and the importance of marine restoration. In this first stage, it is primarily aimed at educational centers located in towns where its fishing guilds are participating in the project, in the provinces of Girona and Barcelona.
This program, promoted by Fundación Biodiversidad of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Democratic Challenge (MITECO) in collaboration with other project partners and coordinated by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), expects to reach at least 450 schoolchildren from upper primary and first cycle secondary education. The program includes a training guide for teachers and students, as well as activities, games, and other resources accompanying the development and implementation of the guide’s contents.
The thematic areas that teachers will work on with students focus on the actions of the LIFE ECOREST project and raising awareness about the importance of deep marine habitats, with a special focus on sessile organisms, including corals, gorgonians, sponges, and bryozoans. Additionally, it delves into marine restoration and its benefits.
Special attention is also given to the role of the fishing sector in the project and marine restoration while promoting the active participation of students through classroom activities where they can work on their contribution to the conservation and protection of marine ecosystems.
The proposal combines activities in the classroom with others outside the school, including a visit to the aquariums installed in the fishermen’s guilds, where organisms caught accidentally are recovered and then returned to the sea. The first visit took place at the fishermen’s guild in Port de la Selva (Girona). The collaboration of these guilds will enable schools in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Llançà, Figueres, L’Escala, Arenys de Mar, Castelló d’Empúries, Cadaqués and Roses to visit the aquariums maintained by the participating guilds closest to their localities in the coming weeks.
The educational resources are available on the LIFE ECOREST project website so that interested schools can access to these materials.
RESTORATION OF DEEP HABITATS
The LIFE ECOREST project is progressing with the aim of restoring nearly 30,000 hectares of deep-sea habitats in Catalonia with the active participation of the fishing sector. Besides research and conservation actions, it also promotes participatory management of the fishermen involved in the project, strengthening governance mechanisms and raising public awareness of the importance of conserving deep-sea habitats.
This initiative, coordinated by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) until 2026, has the support of the Federació Territorial de Confraries de Pescadors de Girona, Fundación Biodiversidad of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the University of Barcelona and WWF Spain, as well as the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme. The fishermen’s associations of Llançà, Port de la Selva, Cadaqués, Roses, Palamós, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Blanes, Arenys de Mar and Vilanova i la Geltrú also participate in the project.