On Posidonia watch

NEXT summer the Valencian Community will have a Posidonia Monitoring Service.
Mireia Molla, who heads the Generalitat’s Environment department, recently visited Baleares, where she visited the islands’ Posidonia Meadows’ Monitoring Service, accompanied by her Govern counterpart Miquel Mir.
The service was launched five years ago and will serve as a model for the Valencia region, Molla said, after having seen Baleares’ good results.  The Valencian Community’s own service will be introduced next year, she confirmed.
The meadows of Posidonia Oceanica (Neptune Grass) lying off the Spanish coast have been described as “the lungs of the Mediterranean” as they are one of the most important source of oxygen for coastal waters.
“Posidonia forests are 20 time more efficient at capturing carbon dioxide than land-based forests and are a structural habitat that must be protected,” Molla said, referring to the marine creatures that live there permanently as well as those that reproduce or seek refuge in the underwater meadows.
“We must all get involved in protecting these marine meadows in a network that goes beyond institutional level,” she declared.
“We are only two communities that have introduced specific regulations for safeguarding sea grass,” Molla said.  “The State should now take steps to demonstrate its commitment to marine biodiversity by protecting Posidonia.”