Private companies to offset their carbon footprint by reforesting Talamanca’s Posidonia meadows

Marine biologist Manu San Félix says he remembers the first times he dived in the bay of Talamanca when he arrived in Ibiza. He remembers seeing different species such as seahorses, cuttlefish and various fish and, above all, “a brightness that it no longer has”. Back then, he says, he dreamed of witnessing the recovery of the Mediterranean Sea. “However, looking back, I see that the opposite has happened”, San Félix laments.

Talamanca is precisely the setting for the presentation of a new methodology by the Balearic Government to measure CO2 absorption and reduction. “What we have processed with the Government is the methodology for calculating CO2 absorption through Posidonia. We have an alliance with the Vellmarí Association, led by Manu San Félix, and what we have done is complement the work they carry out by reforesting the seabed with Posidonia in degraded meadows, often damaged by illegal anchoring and outfalls”, explains Germán Alcayde, executive president of Absorbe CO2, the company responsible for managing the project.

“With the Talamanca project, we want to work on replanting Posidonia in the bay with funding from private companies, which will benefit from this new Government methodology to offset their carbon footprint through the credits or bonds issued and certified by the Government”, Alcayde adds.

The project, funded by private companies, plans to replant one hectare of Talamanca bay. “To do this, we have those private companies that would benefit from those credits and bonds”, Alcayde says. The dives needed to carry out the reforestation, at a depth of between five and ten metres, are the main cost of the project and will be carried out by the Vellmarí Association of Formentera, which is already working on Posidonia reforestation projects on the smaller of the Pityusic Islands.

According to the president of Absorbe CO2, work to reforest Posidonia is expected to begin in October, with an estimated duration of two years to restore the bay. However, Alcayde admits they are waiting for the processing of a buoy field in Talamanca.

Buoy field

“The project currently depends on the ministry processing the buoy field. We have applied for all the permits, from the Balearic Government, the Town Hall and the Consell. We simply need the Spanish Government to process this buoy field to prevent anchoring and for it to be considered an exclusion zone so that diving can take place”, Alcayde explains.

If the buoy field is not implemented, the president of Absorbe CO2 says they would work with the current buoy marking of the swimming area, although this would mean a smaller area. “In that case, we could do half the project”, he says.

The mayor of Vila, Rafael Triguero, also called for the installation of these buoys during his speech at the project presentation. “We can continue planting Posidonia, but as long as we continue to have uncontrolled anchoring by illegal charters in this bay day after day in summer, there is little we can do”, Triguero laments. “We need this project to regulate ecological buoys in order to minimise the impact on this magnificent bay”, the mayor adds.

Triguero also took the opportunity to recall that Posidonia oceanica is part of the World Heritage designation declared by Unesco.

20 plants per square metre

The methodology approved by the Balearic Government establishes a density of 20 plants per square metre, which grow approximately 10 centimetres sideways and upwards. “What we have approved by the Government is compensation of 3.66 tonnes per hectare. In addition, we are obliged to maintain the plantation for 50 years and, during this period, it must be supervised and monitored according to official standards”, Alcayde explains.

“It is a pioneering methodology that will allow, with technical rigour and administrative support, the calculation of CO2 absorption generated through restoration projects for Posidonia oceanica meadows”, says Antoni Costa, vice-president and regional minister for Economy, Finance and Innovation of the Balearic Government.

“To speak of Posidonia here is not to speak of an abstract concept, but of the underwater landscape, the transparency of our waters, the protection of our beaches, biodiversity, tourism and the identity of the entire Mediterranean”, Costa reflects.

The vice-president encourages the islands’ business sector to get involved in projects such as this. “There are opportunities to offset emissions with real impact and to take part in the protection of one of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet”, Costa highlights.

For San Félix, Talamanca is the “ideal” setting to launch this type of project. “It has the name of Ibiza behind it, known worldwide. By restoring this bay, we can generate the movement needed to recover the Mediterranean”, says the biologist, who says he wants to scale up the project to Mallorca and other areas of the Catalan coast.

Also in Ibiza, Alcayde states his intention to expand the project to other areas such as Cala d’Hort and locations in the north of the island.