Cristina Hodgson
THE Aula del Mar de Málaga cooperative celebrates over three decades of working to care for Malaga’s marine environment.
Malaga’s marine biology education centre was formed 33 years ago, an initiative which aimed to ‘raise public awareness’ of the marine environment and the recovery of species through environmental education.
Over three decades the marine conservation centre has rescued, recovered and released hundreds of sea turtles back to their natural habitat, as well as many other sea creatures and marine mammals such as common dolphins, striped dolphins and pilot whales.
Since its beginnings, with the creation of a ‘small museum’ in July 1989, which gradually grew, and the subsequent incorporation of a Centre for the Recovery of Threatened Marine Species (Crema) in 1994, the marine conservation centre has focused on highlighting the importance of caring for the oceans and the biodiversity that inhabits them, specifically those in the Alboran Sea.
Today, the five-member cooperative is made up of the biologists Juan Jesus Martin and Jose Luis Mons; the aquaponics specialist, president of the Aula del Mar de Malaga, and member of the Spanish Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Juan Antonio Lopez; the educator Francisco Lopez and the psychologist Cristina Moreno.
READ MORE:
- Marine Recovery Centre in Spain’s Malaga saves more than 400 sea turtles in almost 30 years
- January sees surge of dolphin deaths on Spain’s Costa del Sol beaches
