Marine Stewardship
Caring for the sea starts where we live
The sea is not separate from the places where we live. It is connected to our streets, our water systems, our agricultural land, our habits and the way we organise our communities.
Around Mallorca, marine ecosystems are exposed to multiple pressures, including pollution, coastal development and the seasonal concentration of human activity. Understanding these pressures and responding to them requires more than scientific research alone. It also requires people who know their coast, pay attention to changes and are willing to take responsibility for the places they share.
ABOCA VERDS is developing a community-based approach to marine stewardship: bringing local knowledge, citizen participation and ecological observation together to better understand and care for our coastal waters.
Observing, learning and taking responsibility
Through activities such as kayak-based water sampling with volunteers, we explore how local communities can participate in observing the condition of the sea and gathering information about their environment.
Water quality is connected to what happens on land. Wastewater infrastructure, stormwater runoff, seasonal population changes and the characteristics of local geology can all influence coastal waters. Understanding these relationships helps us ask better questions about the pressures affecting a particular place.
Citizen science can contribute to this process by connecting observations made by local people with appropriate sampling methods, scientific expertise and reliable interpretation.
Our aim is to build connections between people, researchers and institutions, and to strengthen local capacity to recognise environmental problems and respond to them.
Marine stewardship is an ongoing process of attention, collaboration and learning. It starts with noticing what is happening, sharing what we learn and creating the relationships needed to act.
From observation to collective care
We want to help develop a local community that feels connected to its marine environment and equipped to contribute to its protection.
This means creating opportunities for people to learn about coastal ecology, participate in monitoring activities, exchange knowledge and engage with the organisations responsible for marine and water management.
As the project develops, we aim to build longer-term collaborations that connect citizen observations, scientific research and practical action.
How to get involved
- Join a field activity. Take part in selected coastal observations, kayak-based sampling activities or other opportunities to learn about local marine ecosystems.
- Contribute your knowledge. Fishers, divers, sailors, residents, researchers and people who spend time on the coast all hold valuable knowledge about the sea and how it changes.
- Support citizen science. Help provide the equipment, materials and resources needed for sampling, documentation and environmental education.
- Collaborate with us. We welcome connections with researchers, schools, local organisations and public institutions working on marine conservation, water quality and coastal stewardship.
- Help us build the project. If you have an idea, a question or a particular concern about the coast, get in touch.
- Caring for the sea is a shared responsibility. We want to create more ways for people to become part of that care.