In the Regional Park of Las Salinas and Arenales of San Pedro del Pinatar, in southeastern Spain, an environmental restoration and conservation project is being developed whose principle actions include adaptation of hillocks with a saline substrate to improve the reproduction habitat of aquatic birds and increasing the production of salt, dune restoration and conservation, protection of the first dune ridge through the collection of seagrass tops, and designing and implementation of a salt quality seal, which may be useful for reproduction in other sites in the Natura 2000 network, especially in the European Mediterranean area and in the Black Sea environment. The objective of this research study was to analyse and locate the sites that could possibly replicate the actions of the project. In order to do this, spatial databases were used from the Natura 2000 network, salt flats, and marshes as well as Ramsar sites and SPAMI sites, and from them a shape file of points was created in the places with the presence of maritime dunes associated with marsh systems/salt flats. One hundred thirty-one sites in the Natura 2000 network were located, of which in 105 cases, one or more of the four actions considered in this research study can be replicated. Of these, 24 cases have active or recently abandoned salt flats in which the two main actions of the project can be replicated, and 11 of these sites meet characteristics for the replicability of the four actions, of which three have not been implemented by the LIFE projects developed on those sites.
Coastal erosion is anissuewhich affects beaches all over the world and that signifies enormous economic and environmental losses. Classed as a slow phenomenon, the evolution of the coastline requires long-term analysis. In this study, old cartography and aerial photographs from various dates have been used to study the evolution of the coastline.The information has been processed with free software (QGIS) and for the calculation of sediment transport the Coastal Modeling System (SMC) software. The results show the accretion/erosion phenomena that occurred after the construction of the port in San Pedro del Pinatarin 1954 and which changed the coastal dynamics of a highly protected area. In some sectors, the beach has been reduced almost in its entirety, with retreat rates of up to −2.05m per year and a total area loss of 66,419.81 m2in Las Salinas beach and 76,891.13 m2 on Barraca Quemada beach.
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands, which establishes nine criteria related to natural values and a cultural one that wetlands must meet to be included in the list of wetlands of international importance. We aim to evaluate if the wetlands of the Vega Alta of the Segura River (southeast of Spain) meet the requirements to fulfil this agreement. Thanks to meticulous fieldwork and a bibliographic review related to the stated objective, we collected information on the existing environmental and cultural values. The results show that this set of wetlands is home to 11 species of threatened vertebrates in Spain, two priority habitats in the European Union, as well as cultural values related to their origin, conservation, and ecological functioning. Likewise, in the area there are archaeological sites, traditional uses of water associated with the cultivation of rice, and religious manifestations. Effective wetland inventories and rigorous analyzes of their ecological and environmental characteristics, as well as their socioeconomic functions, need to be carried out in order to improve their management and protection.This wetland certainly meets three criteria to be included in the Ramsar Convention list of wetlands.
The LIFE SALINAS project, co-financed by the European Union, aims for the conservation and improvement of the protected area named the Regional Park of Las Salinas and Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar (Region of Murcia, Spain). The main objectives are, among others, to stop the erosion of the dunes in front of a 500 m long beach and to expand the breeding habitat of aquatic birds. Between the dune and the beach, a barrier was placed to protect the dune from the effects of storms. The dunes were fenced, placed with sand traps and revegetation was carried out with native species in the most degraded areas. Within the salt pans, 1800 m of new sandy dikes were built to separate the salt ponds. The results have been the recovery of the dune ecosystem and the increase in the population of nesting aquatic birds and other species, as well as an increase in the quality and production of salt.
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