Cousteau supports Cabrera enlargement

The visit is taking place 36 years after the famous French oceanographer's expedition to the island.
Over the next few days, Alexandra will join an Oceana diving team that will take new images of the seabed to promote the enlargement of the protected area. “The Mediterranean has suffered serious damage in the last century, and the Cabrera National Park is a perfect example of how sea life becomes abundant once again when an area is protected”, Alexandra Cousteau said. “When my grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, visited the island three decades ago, he expressed his concern that it would be too late to protect it. But now we know that the sea can recover if we act in time and we have the duty to preserve areas which were previously unknown or whose significance went unnoticed”.

The work previously carried out by Oceana in the area surrounding the National Park proved the existence of a dozen ecosystems and almost 300 species requiring protection. They include black coral, red coral knobbed triton, and a large kelp forest, an endemic alga in the Mediterranean, protected by international legislation. “The Cabrera National Park was created to preserve a number of species and habitats, but they are also found in the surrounding areas and completely lack protection. This is the case of algae seabed – such as laminaria, coralligenous, and maerl, which are being devastated by trawling”, said Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe. “For this reason, Oceana proposes enlarging the protected area to more than 7'000 hectares, which would mean multiplying the current area by nine”.

Alexandra Cousteau has collaborated with Oceana since 2012 as senior advisor and is an enthusiastic defender of the environment and promotes the importance of conservation, recovery, and sustainable management of water resources for a healthy planet and a productive society.