The LIFE Salinas Proyect’s closing ceremony took place at the University of Murcia’s La Merced Campus on the 8th and 9th of September. The keynote was coordinated by Andrés Alcántara, from the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, who presented a global vision of Mediterranean coastline salt marshes, within the framework of the Project MedArtSal. Gustavo Ballesteros, coordinator of the LIFE Salinas Project, presented the results, lessons learned and conclusions obtained over the last 4 years.
During the conference, some interesting debates took place. Firstly, a round table took place regarding the protection and restoration of dune ecosystems facing coastal erosion, led by Daniel Ibarra, an investigator from the geography department of the University of Murcia. Likewise, another round table discussed different management experiences of coastal salt marshes being developed in the Region of Murcia, led by María Monteagudo, the Director of the Regional Park “Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar”.
Afterwards, Renato Neves from the consulting firm Mãe d’Água prepared a presentation discussing his 20 years of experience in the obtention of European funds to develop projects for the conservation of salt landscapes.
After lunch, two workshops were held on European nature conservation funds for the improvement and conservation of salt and dune ecosystems, and another on biodiversity conservation initiatives in Mediterranean salt pans. The workshops came to a close following a salt tasting session, directed by Jesús Carrasco from IPAISAL.
This past Friday, a visit was organized in order to view in situ all of the conservation actions developed under the LIFE Salinas Project, attended by representatives of all the project partners.
