CORALLO Correct Enjoyment (and Awareness Raising) of Natura 2000 Locations

Introduction

ERA is participating in CORALLO, a project that aims to promote the responsible enjoyment of ecosystem services and the assets offered within Marine Natura 2000 (N2K) sites. CORALLO, is led by the University of Malta and is part-financed through the INTERREG V-A Italia-Malta 2014-2020 EU Programme. The Environment and Resources Authority, Heritage Malta and four Sicilian partners; ARPA Sicilia, the University of Palermo, the Consorzio Plemminiro and Corissia make up the project partnership.

More than 35% of Maltese waters are designated as ‘Marine Protected Areas’ under the N2K network, encompassing 18 sites and covering over 4100 km² , approximately 13 times the size of Malta’s landmass. Notwithstanding this, awareness on the immense variety of living and non-living organisms present within these sites is limited. The principle objective of CORALLO is to address this lack of awareness through a diverse array of tools focusing on education and entertainment.

Tools will include various resources and means of informal education for a varied spectrum of audiences and will be installed at six popular visitors’ centres: the Malta Maritime Museum; the Għar Dalam Museum; Ħaġar Qim/Mnajdra; and the White Tower Bay Visitors’ Centre, and at two others in Sicily.

ERA is leading the project’s work package set on coordinating outreach efforts on the correct enjoyment of N2K sites. Under this work package, the partnership aims to develop a number of deliverables, including a project brand, promotional items, an audience stakeholder analysis and dissemination strategy, as well as audio-visual content material for mass dissemination. The Authority will also be managing a project website and social media portals, whilst also organising a number of dissemination events.

The project was launched on the 15^th November 2020 and has a duration of 30 months.

Project Details

PROJECT TITLE	CORALLO Correct Enjoyment (and Awareness Raising) of Natura 2000 Locations
DURATION	Q4 2020 – Q2 2023
TOTAL BUDGET	€1,591,572.70
TOTAL EU CONTRIBUTION (85%)	€1,352,836.2 (85% EU Funds)
ERA TOTAL BUDGET	€179,939.85
EU CONTRIBUTION (85%)	€152,948.87
ERA CONTRIBUTION (15%)	€26,990.98
PROJECT LOCATION	Malta, Sicily