Conservation and management

Fostering science and practices to support environmental protection

CURRENT STATUS

Biodiversity and the essential ecosystem services it provides - fertile soils, healthy foods, drinking water, clean air - are being seriously degraded as a result of unsustainable extraction, production and consumption patterns by an increasing human population.

Humans are meant to share the Planet with millions of species; however, larger and larger shares of resources and space taken by us, a single species, are depriving many others of the essential natural capital needed to survive. To keep our balance, we need to understand the value and role of the nature around us, and learn to develop in a sustainable way that respects the needs of other living beings. For this to happen, sound science on conservation and sustainable use of natural resources to preserve our assets is urgently needed.

To assist in creating the scientific grounds to prove the urgent need for action, ETC-UMA performs environmental, social and economic sustainability assessments on diverse territorial units, at various spatial scales and referring to any ecosystem.

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OUR ACTIONS

The ETC-UMA team has worked extensively on spatial and semi-experimental sustainability assessments of land and sea territories and protected areas from an integrated social and ecological perspective.


Developing theoretical and practical methods to validly discriminate the environmental, social and economic effects of protected areas and other conservation tools and policies.

Exploring the use of novel approaches to biodiversity conservation such as OECMs.

Engaging with scientific, managerial, sectoral and policy stakeholders for enhanced conservation and sustainable development.

Providing scientific advice to enterprises, public administrations and NGOs on biodiversity conservation and restoration, territorial planning and marine spatial planning.

Featured outputs

Mediterranean ecosystem restoration sites

Mediterranean ecosystem restoration sites

Nature-based solutions and transferable best practices towards broader ecosystem restoration actions ...
Supporting cetacean conservation in the Pelagos Sanctuary

Supporting cetacean conservation in the Pelagos Sanctuary

A new report has been presented today, 18 November 2022, online in the frame of the cooperation between the Pelagos Permanent Secretariat and the Mediterranean ...
An assessment of marine biodiversity protection in the Mediterranean Sea: A threatened global biodiversity hotspot

An assessment of marine biodiversity protection in the Mediterranean Sea: A threatened global biodiversity hotspot

The Mediterranean Sea is a World’s biodiversity hotspot. It harbours around 11% of all marine species in less than 1% of the global marine area ...

Related projects

Resources

Get in touch

David Rodríguez Rodríguez

Territorial sustainability assessment - Protected areas

davidrr@uma.es

David Rodríguez Rodríguez holds a European-mention PhD in Conservation Biology, an MSc in Ecological Restoration, two BScs: in Biology and in Environmental Sciences, and one University Specialist Degree in GIS and Remote Sensing...

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María del Mar Otero

Nature Based Solutions and Marine Conservation and Management

mar_otero@uma.es

Maria del Mar Otero is a coastal and marine expert with long experience in the Mediterranean, Europe and Asia. She holds a PhD in Marine Science, an MSc in Shellfish Resource Management and a BSc in Marine Science...

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Brief update of the MedBioLitter database version 10 updated in January 2023

Brief update of the MedBioLitter database version 10 updated in January 2023

The MedBioLitter knowledge base is an entry-point to the peer reviewed research evidence published on the impacts of marine litter on marine biota in the Mediterranean region. This knowledge base was created in 2017, under the Interreg-Med funded initiative PANACeA ...
Celebrating and calibrating Mediterranean forests

Celebrating and calibrating Mediterranean forests

The Mediterranean basin is the third-richest hotspot in the world in terms of plant biodiversity  and one of the greatest sources of endemic plants on Earth. Its plant diversity accounts for 25 000 plant species, 60 percent of which are ...
The European Topic Centre of the University of Malaga (ETC-UMA) is looking for an IVY volunteer!

The European Topic Centre of the University of Malaga (ETC-UMA) is looking for an IVY volunteer!

The volunteer will support the ENI CBC MED project “ENSERES - ENhancing Socio-Ecological RESilience in Mediterranean coastal", under the ENI CBC MED programme. The objective of the ENI CBC MED project “ENSERES" is to mainstream available EBM tools in ICZM processes for preserving coastal and marine ecosystems ...
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