Portofino MPA - project coordinator partner
The Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Portofino was established with the law of the Environment Department the 26th of April, 1999. The management in charge is composed of a Consortium which includes the municipalities of Camogli, Portofino, S. Margherita Ligure, the Province of Genoa and the University of Genoa. In 2005, Portofino MPA achieved SPAMI (Special Protected Area of Mediterranean Interest) status, or recognized by the Tunisian RAC/SPA under the Barcelona Convention Protocol as a coastal region of special interest at the scientific, aesthetic, cultural or educational levels. The geomorphological features of the Promontory have determined an underwater environment very rich in crevices, roofs, and small caves favoring the development of a rich and highly diversified benthic fauna and flora. Portofino MPA represents one of the most important marine site in the whole of the Mediterranean for its abundance of the red coral population (the most important shallow-water coral population of the Ligurian Sea) and, in general, the luxuriant coralligenous community. This community flourishes on the submerged cliff and on the rocks, while coralligenous platforms develop off the rocky bottoms, at a depth of 60 to 100 m. Few other sites in Italy are as rich in species and in gorgonian populations as Portofino. The fish community is really interesting too, species like brown grouper, brown meagre, dentex and barracuda are a great attractive, especially, for diving tourism.
Costa Edutainment - associated partner
Costa Edutainment S.p.A. is a service company dealing with management of public aquariums and museums. The overall goal of its activity is to answer the growing demand for a high quality use of leisure time, in which cultural and educational experiences are joined within the spectacle of the setting and the immediacy of the offer. It manages the Acquario di Genova (www.acquariodigenova.it), which represents an extraordinary scientific and didactic center and one of the main cultural target visited in Italy. Its mission is to promote the conservation of aquatic natural habitats through educational and scientific actions.
The Aquarium plays a relevant role in disseminating the scientific knowledge to the public at each level, through dedicated messages and activities, directly involving about 900,000 visitors per year and much more contacts through the institutional web site and the social networks.
The scientific research activities in the field are fundamental; they are realized in cooperation with other research Institutions or Authorities, which have contributed to the knowledge of the status of some species, or to develop new non invasive research techniques; the support actions to promote the set up of areas for the safeguard of endangered species.
Bergeggi Island Marine Protected Area- associated partner
The Municipality of Bergeggi is the managing body of the Marine Protected Area of Bergeggi (Savona, Italy).
The MPA of Bergeggi was instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea with the D.M. 7th of May 2007, published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic no. 206 of 5 September 2007, pursuant to Article . 7 paragraph 1 of the above mentioned Decree "the management of the marine protected is provisionally assigned to the Municipality of Bergeggi (Comune di Bergeggi); Article 4 of the Ministerial Decree n. 1660 of 13 October 2008, under which the management of the marine protected "Bergeggi Island" is entrusted to the managing entity identified in Article 7 of the DM May 7, 2007.
Its surface, totally included in the Municipality of Bergeggi, covers 2,1503 square kilometres (215 ha). The coastal marine environment between the Municipality of Bergeggi and Noli is protected by the Site of Community Importance (SCI) IT 1323271, set up to protect the meadows of Posidonia oceanica which extend for about 83 hectares from Noli to the Island of Bergeggi, at a bathymetry between 10 and 20 meters deep.
Softeco Sismat - associated partner
Softeco Sismat is an independent industrial SME established in Genova, Italy, in 1979. The company is a major supplier of software and automation systems for industry and research partners operating in complex environments with advanced IT methodologies, tools, hardware and software standards in Italy and Europe. With its headquarters located in Genova and branch offices in Milan, Naples and Catania, Softeco has currently a staff of over 220 professionals, including system, project and research engineers, software analysts and developers. The turnover is above 15 million EURO with a constant growth over the last 10 years. The company has a strong, innovation-oriented product development strategy exploiting the advances of IT competence and technology development achieved through RTD projects. The beneficiary will bring to the project its long standing experience in the design, development and operation of large monitoring, data collection, data processing and management systems in several industrial sectors.
Within the Re-Life project, Softeco will develop, setup and operate the specimen tagging system and the area monitoring system. Softeco will deliver the project web site which will address two objectives:
- to allow general public and specialized users to access information on the project and its results including access to updated material on breeding process and repopulation activity,
- to provide access to multimedia and to the community portal.
Genoa University DiSTAV - associated partner
The Department for the Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DiSTAV) of the University of Genoa is an Academic Government Institution focused on teaching and researching earth, environment and life sciences. It takes care of 9 different courses (in the fields of Biology, Natural and Environmental Sciences and Geology) and of the PhD course on Sciences and Technologies for the Environment and the Territory. DiSTAV performs extensive research in many fields of Biology and Geology, both in basic and applied research. These activities are specifically addressed to the study, protection and preservation of the environment (aquatic and terrestrial), environmental quality assessment, management and exploitation of resources. The cultural heterogeneity and the methodological homogeneity of the DISTAV researchers allow a development and a deepening of the most current research topics and the fostering of new and innovative research lines. Research interests of the UNIGE scientists involved in the present project span from ecology of toxic benthic microalgae to integrated aquaculture, through species interactions,and effects of global stressors on marine organisms. Additionally, they have a well documented research and teaching expertise on the species addressed by the present project.
Within the Re-Life project, UNIGE will bring the scientific expertise on the addressed environmental problem, will carry out scientific coordination, will contribute to the definition of the repopulation protocol and to translocation and breeding of the species and will contribute to project dissemination and achievement assessment.
Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre - associated partner
The Cinque Terre Marine Protected Area was established by a Decree of the Ministry of Environment of 12 December 1997 and includes the municipalities of Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Monterosso and partly that of Levanto. The establishment of Marine Protected Areas is provided by two National laws: Provisions on the protection of the sea (No. 979 of 31 December 1982) and the outline on Protected Areas (No. 394 of December 6, 1991). The purpose of the Cinque Terre Marine Protected Area, which includes two A strict nature reserve zones and B zones of two general reserve in Punta Mesco and Capo di Montenero and boasting an extraordinary richness and variety of plants and animal species, is to protect and enhance natural, chemical, physical features and marine and coast biodiversity, also and especially through environmental restoration measures, with the collaboration of academic and scientific communities. For these reasons programs of study, monitoring and scientific research in the fields of natural sciences and of environmental protection are consistently produced, aimed to ensure a systematic knowledge of the area, but also for the promotion of a sustainable development of the environment, with particular emphasis on enhancing traditional activities, local culture, environmentally friendly tourism end enjoyment of socially sensitive categories. In recent years the Cinque Terre National Park and the Marine Protected Area, which since 1999 have become part of the Cetacean Sanctuary, triggered a series of projects with various Italian and European protected areas
Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo MPA- associated partner
The Marine Protected Area of Tavolara - Punta Coda Cavallo was established in the north-east of Sardinia on 12 December 1997 by decree of the Ministry of Environment. It is managed by a Consortium among the towns of Olbia, Loiri Porto San Paolo and San Teodoro. The important natural values, enriched by a spectacular landscape make this area of international importance for conservation. The Area Management, in recent years, has implemented significant measures to protect guided by a new philosophy that supports the care and protection of the territory, the idea of a use sustainable in the long run. From this perspective, the Consortium Management has provided, in the activities of monitoring and scientific research, shares with important aspects of communication and education targeted at potential users. The National Manager of 'A.M.P. presents itself as a privileged interlocutor of both the local community and a many visitors, aware that only the shared responsibility and the construction of scenarios management and protection of territory are really particular in use and may have a lasting fallout. It is a zone of special protection for the presence of different species of really importance such as Puffinus yelkouan, but also coastal dolphin, lobster, grouper and, at least Patella ferruginea, the most marine threatened invertebrate in the West Mediterraneran Sea (European Council Directive 92/43/EEC del Conservation of Natural Habitat of Wilde Fauna and Flora, 1992).