On 26th and 27th September, Ibiza played host to the 1st Marine Forum of Ibiza and Formentera – which Marina Ibiza is a founding member of – creating a reference space for discussion and the elaboration of proposals for improvement based on what is happening on the Pityusic Islands.

This Marine Forum serves as a platform where public, private and civil sectors are represented who, concerned about the conservation of the environment, develop ideas to work on to promote conservation projects in the marine environment.

This platform, led by an authoritative team drawn from the business and public sector, was headed by Sandra Benbeniste from the Ibiza Preservation Foundation and supported by Marcos Marí, representing Marina Ibiza and the Be Blue Trasmapi Care Project.

The main objective of this first edition of the Forum was to assess the current state of the sea around Ibiza and Formentera, listen to the opinions of specialists, contribute ideas to recover what has been lost and enhance the strengths of our marine environment, to later serve as an example of conservation activities that can be replicated at an international level.

With this in mind, a programme was drawn up where speakers participated that specialise in the subject area, such as Von Hernández, Goldman Prize 2003, environmental expert dedicated to denouncing the pollution of the seas and oceans; Mike Fay, National Geographic naturalist and explorer who is currently working to make Gabon protect its ocean just as he did 15 years ago with its forests; Javier Goyeneche, founder of ECOALF, a sustainable fashion brand made out of recycled products; Pierre-Yves Cousteau, scientist and environmental advisor who is currently promoting protected marine areas; Miquel Sunyer, a long-distance swimmer who is considered an ocean explorer; and marine biologist and educator Manu San-Félix. Aniol Esteban from the Marilles Foundation, Juan Calvo from the Water Alliance and Sandra Benbeniste were the moderators.

The three main strands of the Forum were aimed at seeking a reduction in dumping and discharging at sea, increasing the number of protected marine areas, and collaborating on the implementation of the Ibiza and Formentera Waste Law.

The activities scheduled over the two days of the Marine Forum that took place in the Centro Cultural de Jesús proved to be more popular than expected, and were split into theatre and dance shows, workshops, talks, demonstrations of good practice and a cultural programme, as well as parallel recreational events.

Over the days of the Forum there were various proposals and ideas put forward that the developing team, which Marina Ibiza forms part of, will continue working on to find the best way to implement these actions.