Tag Archives: Preservation

Narrative photography contest on the Port of Maó

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The Recuperem el Port de Maó campaign has launched a narrative photography contest with the aim of giving visibility to the environmental, social and heritage pressures that threaten the values still preserved in the natural harbour of Port of Maó.

The initiative has the collaboration of the Balearic Sea Conservation Audiovisual Contest MARE, and invites the public to look at the port with critical and sensitive eyes and to explain, through photography, the processes of transformation and deterioration affecting the bay. The contest does not seek only aesthetic images, but photographs capable of narrating a reality and generating reflection.

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‘Not even the cove, which was my world’: 13/06/26

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The romantic failure sung about in la balada d’en Lucas (Lucas’s ballad) includes a lament for the loss of values and identity that tourism-driven development caused on the Costa Brava. It is a song sung with deep feeling in Menorca as well, a land that is also being harmed by the impact of mass tourism.

On Saturday, 13 June, a protest event is being organised against the direction the island has been taking in recent times. No one who wants a dignified future for Menorca should be missing.

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Encouraging fires in natural areas

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A new legislative amendment has been presented by the Partido Popular proposing changes to the Law on the Conservation of Environmentally Relevant Areas of the Balearic Islands (LECO). With the amendment to Article 52, deliberate fires of arboreal forest mass inside protected natural areas would no longer be considered an infringement.

As will be recalled, a few days ago the GOB made public parliamentary initiatives by the same political group to allow hunting on islets and other sites of high natural value. Now, some additional measures of particular gravity are being added. Eliminating or reducing sanctions for those who intentionally burn protected forests implies conveying to public opinion a highly dangerous sense of impunity.

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Roads with a second purpose

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The construction of railways in North America was crucial to the colonisation of territories disputed with Indigenous tribes. The railway line that eventually connected east and west enabled the movement of goods, people and animals. It became one of the key elements in the transformation of those lands—a structural change that meant the definitive colonisation of Indigenous territories.

But there is no need to cross oceans to understand the relationship between infrastructure and its consequences for the places it connects. When land was still being subdivided in the countryside of Menorca, there was always some councillor pushing to pave rural roads in order to facilitate subsequent operations of parcelling and construction.

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Shooting at the islets

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The Partit Popular has presented an initiative in the Balearic Parliament to allow hunting on islets, ravines and inland cliffs. The proposal amends the Menorca Biosphere Reserve Law and removes the existing ban on hunting in these areas.

GOB Menorca wishes to express its rejection of this amendment, put forward by the Menorcan MP Jordi López, because these areas are considered to be of the highest environmental value. Three out of every four hectares of Menorca are already designated as hunting grounds.

 

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The cross-cutting issue

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Spring has begun, leaving behind meetings, conferences, studies and debates on important issues in Menorca. Menorca’s winter brings a remarkably active pace of events that encourage reflection and analysis. And in all these initiatives, when one takes a moment to think, a common factor emerges—one that runs through all these issues and fills them with a sense of concern.

We struggle to find solutions for aquifer management, access to housing, waste reduction and recycling, beach overcrowding, and the gradual loss of purchasing power.

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Cutting the flower

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The President of the European Commission says that nuclear energy is strategic for Europe. Next month will mark 40 years since the very serious accident at the (formerly Soviet and now Ukrainian) Chernobyl plant, when a radioactive cloud larger than the entire Iberian Peninsula was released and drifted across the West as far as the United States. The radiation was equivalent to hundreds of bombs like the one in Hiroshima.

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The Wildlife Recovery Centre closes 2025 with a 14.1% increase in animal admissions

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Once again, the Wildlife Recovery Centre of Menorca —operating under an agreement between GOB Menorca and the Consortium for Wildlife Recovery (COFIB), under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment of the Balearic Government— presents in its 2025 Report the annual summary of the work carried out. A year full of challenges and dedication to the conservation of the island’s native fauna, concluding with 84 species admitted, 70 of which correspond to wild animals.

The total number of admitted animals increases year after year, and 2025 closed with 1,473 admissions, 14.1% more than in 2024. Of these, 1,425 were wild animals, highlighting the important work carried out at the Centre in caring for injured or vulnerable island wildlife. At the same time, educational and awareness-raising efforts have continued to promote appropriate coexistence with our environment, so that wildlife can be enjoyed with respect and care.

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The Rafal Rubí documents

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In relation to the controversy over the works at Rafal Rubí, GOB wishes to recall that UNESCO has spoken very clearly about the documentation that the Island Council sent regarding the road works. There is no doubt that an opinion was issued on the information sent from Menorca.

The international body clearly warned that the indication was that the works already begun should be dismantled as soon as possible.

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Rerouting the Camí de Cavalls in Addaia

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In February 2021, five years ago now, three environmental organisations working in the Balearic Islands, two of them focused on Menorca, formally requested that the Island Council modify a section of the Camí de Cavalls that crosses the middle of the former salt flats of Addaia. These organisations are GOB, Societat Ornitològica de Menorca (SOM) and Societat Espanyola d’Ornitologia (SEO-Virot Balears).

The letter recalled the protection figures that apply to this area: Natural Park, ANEI with a high level of protection and the Natura 2000 Network (SCI and SPA). This protection is due to its great landscape and environmental value.

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