• This three-year programme aims to plant up to 180,000 Posidonia oceanica plants across around 20,000 square metres of degraded seagrass meadow
• Over this period, it will expand Vellmarí’s area under restoration nearly threefold to its ongoing efforts.
• More than 30 educational institutions, 30,000 people and 600 volunteers will take part in supporting the Mediterranean’s seagrass meadows.

The MSC Foundation and Asociación Vellmarí have launched “Shallow Bays of the Mediterranean”, a new three-year programme combining Posidonia oceanica restoration, marine education and community engagement. Led by Vellmarí, implementation will begin in Ibiza with the aim of establishing a scientifically validated model that can subsequently be adapted for Palma de Mallorca and the Barcelona coastline.

Running from August 2026 to July 2029, the programme was launched aboard EXPLORA III as part of the events surrounding the ship’s naming ceremony, coinciding with the appointment of Vellmarí co-founder Cristina Ozores as the ship’s Godmother. Building on the MSC Foundation and Vellmarí’s existing partnership focused on Formentera, it aims to plant and monitor between 170,000 and 180,000 Posidonia oceanica plants, bring an additional 20,000 square metres of degraded coastal habitat under restoration, and engage more than 30,000 people through marine education, citizen science and community activities.

The first phase will begin in Talamanca Bay, Ibiza, where Vellmarí will develop and refine the programme’s restoration and education methodology. Subject to ecological feasibility, site selection and consultation with local stakeholders, the model is intended to be adapted for Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona coastlines during the 2 and 3 year of implementation.

Posidonia oceanica is a seagrass species found only in the Mediterranean. Its underwater meadows provide habitat for marine life, store blue carbon, stabilise the seabed and help protect coastlines from erosion.

“How easy it is to destroy these ecosystems, but extraordinarily difficult to restore them,” said Manu San Félix, Founder of Asociación Vellmarí. “That is why protecting the Posidonia meadows that remain must be our top priority.”

The programme will combine science-based restoration with long-term environmental monitoring, ocean literacy and practical community participation. Schools, dive centres, volunteers, educators and researchers will take part in restoration, citizen science and field-learning activities. The initiative will also train educators, volunteers and dive professionals, helping to build capacity based on local knowledge to support continued conservation action.

“Every journey to protect the ocean begins with a simple moment: slowing down, discovering its beauty and falling in love with the sea,” said Cristina Ozores, Co-founder and Director of Education at Asociación Vellmarí.

Over the three-year period, the programme will engage around 6,000 students across 30 schools and education centres. It will also involve around 600 volunteers and provide training for 28 educators and 24 dive centres.

“Beneath the shallow bays of the Mediterranean lie Posidonia oceanica meadows, one of the region’s most important ecosystems,” said Daniela Picco, Executive Director of the MSC Foundation. “Our partnership with Asociación Vellmarí brings together scientific expertise, education and community participation, helping people become active stewards of the sea that connects us all. Cristina Ozores’ appointment as Godmother of EXPLORA III is a fitting symbol of the shared commitment to the sea that underpins this collaboration.”

The initiative builds on the collaboration established by the MSC Foundation and Vellmarí in Formentera in 2024, within the framework of the Foundation’s wider partnership with Mission Blue™, the ocean conservation organisation founded by oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle. During the first two years, Vellmarí planted more than 78,000 Posidonia oceanica plants, bringing 2,700 square metres of degraded seagrass meadow in the waters around Formentera under restoration.