The mooring management plan
The Posidonia oceanica meadow is threatened by various stressors, mainly related to human activities. The harbour construction, pollution, trawling, the uncontrolled anchoring and other human activities can damage the health of 1120* Habitat (Posidonia oceanicameadow).
One of the actions of the SeaForest LIFE foresees the realization of a management plan of mooring to reduce the impact of this practice on the seagrass meadows.The mooring management plans will be implemented in collaboration with the managing bodies of the National Parks that already developed specific rules for mooring and anchoring.Thanks to the identification of the areas more frequented by boats through satellite images, the sea bottom habi-tat maps and the characterization of the sea bottom by using acoustic tools (see: The carbon deposits), areas were new mooring could be developed, areas where free anchorage could be allowed and areas where protection measured could be applied will be identified.
The drawing up of a detailed mooring plan will significantly reduce the negative effects of anchoring on the Posidonia oceanica meadows and consequently on carbon storage.
Porto della Madonna in the Arcipelago of La Maddalena National Park.
An IT platform will be developed with an application for mobile devices to make the plan available by users. The information system will be usable by anyone requesting an authorization to access the protected areas. Through the platform, the user will have to register his/her data, the technical characteristics of the boat, the date and the period of staying in the area.
The application will provide a detailed map of the available free anchor areas present in the vicinity and/or, where present, mooring fields, and will give an indication of the time of permanence granted (depending on the management policies dictated by the managing body), in order to allow a rotation of the use of the areas among all the users.The platform will be able to integrate with any payment systems for issuing authorizations available to the Entity or, in its absence, to set up an ex novo management structure.
It will also constitute an interface system for the user who will have access to information on the area, receive weather alerts or alerts if his boat is in areas where navigation and anchoring are prohibited or in areas where specific protection measures are provided.The portal will give to the user information regarding the project and the importance of protecting the Posidonia oceanica, indicating the main ecosystem services generated by the extension of the protected seagrass meadows: oxygenation and storage of CO2.
