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SASPAS

Dune brindisine tranplantion
The transplanting operations of P. oceanica, on the site of the Parco delle Dune Costiere Brindisine, included a phase of preparation of the replanting materials on the shore, on the foreshore and a phase in immersion for the laying of the elements on the bottom, at about 400 meters from the coastline
Panzano Bay, Monfalcone
The bottom of Panzano Bay, at the Monfalcone project site, is characterized by the presence of dense meadows of marine seagrasses, mainly of the species Cymodocea nodosa, Zostera marina and Zostera noltei. They are "close relatives" of the better known Posidonia oceanica; they play an important role in containing erosion phenomena, capturing suspended sediments and providing shelter and food for fish and benthic fauna. It is not uncommon to find, in the meadow, specimens of the large mollusk Pinna nobilis, endemic species of the Mediterranean, under protection, which records in recent serious phenomena of infection by microorganisms.
Kornati transplantation
The transplantation intervention carried out at the Kornati Park was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the method adopted in a disturbed context such as the protected bay, where numerous boats moor a few meters from the shore to spend the night, with the result of continuous bottom upheaval, sediment lifting and physical disturbance by anchors and chains. The transplant section has been protected by appropriate marker buoys that have intercluded access, but the conditions of sensitive sedimentation are visible and have been used as a pressure element to be taken into account in monitoring results.
Kornati MPA life
Some of the most open and deepest sites of the Kornati Islands Park are used for sports diving. In spite of the scarcity of the ichthyofaunal component - unfortunately a general element of the Adriatic reality - the seabed of this archipelago presents an interesting and fascinating benthic component.
Dune Brindisine balise
In order to highlight possible phenomena of retreat of the edges of the prairies, markers (so-called balises) have been positioned that allow to set the initial limit and measure how much this limit moves (in advance or retreat) in time. The checks carried out in the site of the Brindisi Coastal Dunes Park have allowed to appreciate, in the three years of monitoring, limited losses of surface.
Dune Costiere monitoring activities
The initial surveys, carried out on the site of the Parco Dune Costiere Brindisine, on a network of 9 stations, included a procedure for assessing P. oceanica cover that could not be extremely thorough in terms of medium- and long-term dynamics, but allowed us to characterize the general conditions of the prairie and to identify any phenomena of retreat of the limits of the various patches.
Dune Brindisine Monitoring site
On the monitoring site of the Parco Dune Costiere Brindisine, in the initial phase, a control of epifauna and endofauna was carried out in order to characterize the grassland also from the point of view of habitability.
Parco Dune Costiere Brindisine
The site of the Parco Dune Costiere Brindisine, litorale di Ostuni mare. The Posidonia oceanica prairie, on a wing of about 8 meters, appears to be in fair condition, even if it shows wide spaces of withdrawal where the dead matte hosts abundant the indigenous seaweed Caulerpa prolifera. Some evidences lead to hypothesize the action of erosive phenomena which are also very important in the dynamics of the coastline retreat.
Kornati MPA life
Some of the most open and deepest sites of the Kornati Islands Park are used for sports diving. In spite of the scarcity of the ichthyofaunal component - unfortunately a general element of the Adriatic reality - the seabed of this archipelago presents an interesting and fascinating benthic component.
Kornati removal of marine litter
In addition to the main project actions, at the Kornati Park site, the collection of rubble and waste at the bottom was also carried out with appropriate frequency, and these were taken to the landfill, via the Park organization.
Posidonia Transplanting method
The transplanting method of P. oceanica adopted in the case of the site of the Parco delle Dune Brindisine is the one developed by Biosurvey, a spin-off of the University of Palermo, which collaborated with the Project. The school of Palermo has effectively tested one of the 3-4 most used methods in the Mediterranean context, always to be adopted with extreme care and after considering the boundary conditions and pressures that have led or are leading, in the various sites investigated, to the rarefaction or retreat of the meadows.
Panzano bay, MOnfalcone monitoring activities
The control monitoring, at Panzano Bay, included the verification of the cover to highlight any backward phenomena, discriminating between the different patches identified, both with monospecific cover and mixed, as in this case where C. nodosa and Z. marina cohabit.
Panzano Bay, Monfalcone seagrasses
The bottom plane of Panzano Bay, due to its north-adriatic morphological and sedimentological characteristics, is an example of a coast dominated by fine sediments. The seagrasses that colonize it are therefore adapted both to this type of material and to the conditions of greater turbidity typical of these beats. Nevertheless, due to the substantial naturalness that these coasts preserve and to the bathymetric heterogeneity, characterized by alternating bottoms, shallows, shoals, freshwater emissions and more, the prairies cover considerable extents to the east and especially to the west of Monfalcone, up to Grado and beyond, not to mention the lagoon medows.
Kornati MPA Monitoring activities
At the Kornati Islands Park site in Dalmatia, 6 stations were chosen within a protected bay, characterized by considerable tourist-nautical pressure; the remaining 3 stations were located in a more open position, in a more exposed site used for mooring support boats for sport diving.
Balises in Kornati MPA
Balises were placed at the Kornati Park site to check for any retreat of the prairie margins.
Balises in Kornati MPA
Balises were placed at the Kornati Park site to check for any retreat of the prairie margins.

SASPAS

Posidonia relevance

Aprile 1, 2022

One of the peculiarities of Posidonia is its tolerance to climatic fluctuations, which is an excellent indicator of water quality. Since 1992 it has been considered a habitat of priority interest for the EU and is currently regulated by various

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International women’s day

Marzo 8, 2022

In the 8 institutions that are project partners in the Interreg (Ita-Cro) #SASPAS project, there are many women who have contributed to our #project and to the conservation of #seagrass, who have carried out transplantations of #PosidoniaOceanica, who have monitored

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READ ABOUT SASPAS IN LOCAL CROATIAN NEWSPAPERS NOVI LIST

Ottobre 9, 2020

(10/10/2020) An article about SASPAS project was published in Rijeka (Croatia) local newspapers Novi list with the title: Saving marine lungs is essential for maintaining the biological diversity of the Adriatic Sea. Link to the article: https://www.novilist.hr/more/spasavanje-morskih-pluca-kljucno-je-za-odrzavanje-bioloske-raznolikosti-jadranskog-mora/?fbclid=IwAR0fv2gMRJ9gVtYJYtsPmwH4UAXOXxrxzFR9TgyR2e0q1ZLLEWzwL1z0ECQ.

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About us

The challenge of SASPAS is to preserve and get a better status of conservation of biodiversity of the Adriatic Sea ecosystem in order to decrease its vulnerability.

The overall objective is to improve seagrass preservation and restoration through: laying safe anchorage innovative systems, performing pilot transplantations, carrying out monitoring activities and by defining an integrated management system for seagrasses in Adriatic area.
The main outputs referred to the activities are: a Monitoring system with 2 data collections/monitoring campaigns, the placement of environmentally friendly anchoring systems, pilot transplantations of seagrasses and an Integrated Management System for seagrasses in the Adriatic area, made by a GIS Digital Information Platform and a Marine Seagrass Safeguard Integrated Management Program.

Discover SASPAS

Web GIS

The project have developed a large-scale GIS for the Adriatic that presents a series of map-themes available for managers (public, agencies, parks, various authorities...) to make them able to implement safeguard measures and promote a sustainable use of the coast

Monfalcone area
Dune area
Kornati area

Document repository

It is a tool developed to make available the documents and scientific sources used within the project to develop the integrated management system for the protection of marine phanerogams. Moreover are publicly available some of the project deliverables.

Open repository

Project news

Read the latest news of the SASPAS Interreg ITA- CRO project available on the INTERREG ITA-CRO program website. News about meetings, buoy system, restoration activities but also about monitoring and meetings with stakeholders

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YouTube Channel

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SASPASS in numbers

0
Partners
0,906
€ MLN TOTAL BUDGET AMOUNT
0,000
€ MLN ERDF AMOUNT
0
MOUNTHS 01/2019 - 06/2021

SAFE ANCHORING AND SEAGRASS PROTECTION IN THE ADRIATIC SEA

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SASPAS Interreg Italy - Croatia Partners