Yesterday morning the first Marine Forum of Ibiza and Formentera was announced at Marina Ibiza which will take place on September 26th and 27th. This initiative, coming from the hand of a remarkable promotional team, aims to establish a platform for creating ideas for the conservation of the environment and more specifically the Pitiusas environment, which is where it was born.

This platform, promoted by an outstanding team from the business and public sectors, will be led by Sandra Benbeniste of the Ibiza Preservation Foundation and supported by Marcos Marí on behalf of Marina Ibiza and Be Blue Trasmapi Care Project, which hosted the presentation. Together with Manu San Félix of Vellmarí, Cres Huerta of Pachá Foundation and Marc Rahola of OD Hotels.

The main objective of this first Marine Forum will be to review the current situation of the sea in Ibiza and Formentera, as well as listening to the opinions of specialists and contributing ideas aimed at recovering what is already gone. Then enhancing the strengths of our marine environment and serving as an example of conservation actions to be replicated internationally.

To this end, an ambitious programme has been designed in which experts on the subject will participate, such as Von Hernández, winner of the Goldman Prize 2003, an environmental expert dedicated to denouncing the pollution of the seas and oceans; Myke Fay, a National Geographic naturalist and explorer who is currently working on getting Gabon to protect its ocean as it did 15 years ago with its forests; Javier Goyeneche, founder of ECOALF, a sustainable fashion brand made with recycled products. Pierre-Yves Cousteau, scientist and environmental consultant who is currently promoting marine protected areas; Miquel Sunyer, long-distance swimmer, considered an explorer of the Oceans and marine biologist; and disseminator Manu San Felix.

Aniol Esteban, from Marilles Foundation, Juan Calvo, of the Alliance for Water and Sandra Benbeniste, will act as moderators.

The three main axes of the forum will aim at finding ways, and contributing to, the reduction of discharges into the sea, increasing the protection of marine protected areas, as well as collaborating in the implementation of the waste laws in Ibiza and Formentera.

In addition to the inaugural session, the scheduled activities include workshops, presentations, good practices demonstrations and a cultural programme, as well as parallel recreational events. The whole public is welcome to participate, although specific activities aimed at technicians, companies and environmental associations of the islands will also be offered.

At the end of the Forum and as a conclusion, a document will be created with 10 environmental commitments based on the initial objectives, and as a result of the discussions and the generation of ideas during the days in which this extraordinary event is celebrated. These commitments will be reviewed by the Promotional Group and collaborating entities so that these agreements can be assumed by administrations, businesses and by society in general with the intention that they are not simple talked about, but that they are implemented, thus proving the effectiveness of the forum.

The promotional team, among which is Marina Ibiza, will look for ways to involve all those who wish to collaborate in this initiative, with the understanding that the sum of all efforts will lead to better results for the conservation of the environment and the state of the sea of Ibiza and Formentera.

In the words of Marcos Marí, “we want, as promoters of this exciting project, to spread our commitment to everyone to enhance the conservation of our islands. And this first edition is the seed so that everything we have done so far and what we can do will begin to give results. We will create awareness in society of the importance of returning to the sea everything that the sea gives to us.”

It is noteworthy, that once the expenses of this first Marine Forum are covered, the funds raised will be used to finance projects related to the topics discussed during the forum, previously approved by the group of promoters.