7.2.2.6 Mar Menor Coastal Lagoon (Western Mediterranean Sea)
The Mar Menor coastal lagoon (135 km
2
) is located in the Region of Murcia
(SE Spain). The area is characterized by multiple environmental, sociocultural and
economic interests, often competing for scarce resources, water being the most
important. There is a high potential for complementarity, win-win scenarios and
development of sustainable business cases based on public-private collaboration,
efficient use of water and innovative farming practices and a transition to sustainable
models of tourism and agriculture. The catchment draining into the Mar Menor
covers an area of 1.255 km2 and is mainly covered by intensive irrigated agriculture
(35%) and tree crops (30%). The intensive and highly profitable irrigated agriculture
depends on scarce low-quality groundwater and water from inland inter-basin water
transfers. Agriculture provides labour and income to the region but forms a source of
excessive nutrient and contamination into the Mar Menor coastal lagoon. The
resulting poor water quality affects the ecology of the lagoon with severe implications for its potential function for tourism and fisheries. The coastal lagoon forms
part of a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI). The Mar
Menor is one of the hotspots for tourism in the Region of Murcia, with a total number
of 346,000 tourists and 1.4 million overnight stays in 2016. Besides international
visitors, the Mar Menor has an important touristic function for the regional population (1.5 million inhabitants). The availability of water for irrigation and drinking
water for tourism will be further reduced under future climate conditions. As such,
the Mar Menor is strongly influenced by interactions between inland agriculture on
the one hand and coastal tourism and fisheries that affect natural ecological values
and socioeconomic sustainability on the other hand. The need to move towards
sustainable modes of agriculture, fishery and tourism is increasingly recognized and
recently revived strongly due to sudden increase in contamination levels resulting in
a considerable decline in tourism.
7.2.3 Embedding Stakeholder Perspectives
The general methodology of COASTAL is based on a complete integration of a
participatory, multi-actor approach with evidence-based analysis, exploiting local
and scientific knowledge and expertise. As such, local stakeholders from coastal and
rural areas along with scientists work together to codesign innovative business
solutions and policy alternatives to create sustainable, dynamic and resilient
European land-sea regions. Stakeholders, entrepreneurs and administration representatives actively and jointly contribute to the design, testing and interpretation of
these business and policy solutions.
116
E. Akinsete et al.
The Mar Menor coastal lagoon (135 km
2
) is located in the Region of Murcia
(SE Spain). The area is characterized by multiple environmental, sociocultural and
economic interests, often competing for scarce resources, water being the most
important. There is a high potential for complementarity, win-win scenarios and
development of sustainable business cases based on public-private collaboration,
efficient use of water and innovative farming practices and a transition to sustainable
models of tourism and agriculture. The catchment draining into the Mar Menor
covers an area of 1.255 km2 and is mainly covered by intensive irrigated agriculture
(35%) and tree crops (30%). The intensive and highly profitable irrigated agriculture
depends on scarce low-quality groundwater and water from inland inter-basin water
transfers. Agriculture provides labour and income to the region but forms a source of
excessive nutrient and contamination into the Mar Menor coastal lagoon. The
resulting poor water quality affects the ecology of the lagoon with severe implications for its potential function for tourism and fisheries. The coastal lagoon forms
part of a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI). The Mar
Menor is one of the hotspots for tourism in the Region of Murcia, with a total number
of 346,000 tourists and 1.4 million overnight stays in 2016. Besides international
visitors, the Mar Menor has an important touristic function for the regional population (1.5 million inhabitants). The availability of water for irrigation and drinking
water for tourism will be further reduced under future climate conditions. As such,
the Mar Menor is strongly influenced by interactions between inland agriculture on
the one hand and coastal tourism and fisheries that affect natural ecological values
and socioeconomic sustainability on the other hand. The need to move towards
sustainable modes of agriculture, fishery and tourism is increasingly recognized and
recently revived strongly due to sudden increase in contamination levels resulting in
a considerable decline in tourism.
7.2.3 Embedding Stakeholder Perspectives
The general methodology of COASTAL is based on a complete integration of a
participatory, multi-actor approach with evidence-based analysis, exploiting local
and scientific knowledge and expertise. As such, local stakeholders from coastal and
rural areas along with scientists work together to codesign innovative business
solutions and policy alternatives to create sustainable, dynamic and resilient
European land-sea regions. Stakeholders, entrepreneurs and administration representatives actively and jointly contribute to the design, testing and interpretation of
these business and policy solutions.
116
E. Akinsete et al.