Photo by Zafer Kizilkaya
is a marine plant, and not an alga, which has root, stem, leaves, fruits and flowers. It forms meadows between the surface and the 40 meters of depth in waters of great quality like those of Formentera. It is an endemic species in the Mediterranean and, since 1999 specifically the meadow of the Natural Park of Ses Salines d'Eivissa and Formentera was declared a World Heritage Site.
Posidonia Posidonia represents one of the most important natural values of the island, since it exerts an important function in sediments filtración thus giving a unique transparency, contributes to maintain the quality and oxygenation of the submarine ecosystem where more than 400 species of marine plants and 1,000 species of marine animals are fed and breed; many of them used in the Balearic gastronomy and, finally, the Posidonia berms on the sand avoid beaches erosion.
The Posidonia creates extensive meadows that cover the seabed, constituting an ecosystem of great beauty that enables the development of recreational activities such as scuba diving and snorkeling. Therefore, it can be said that the contribution of this species, both to the maintenance of environmental quality and the water, and its contribution to the economy of the Balearic archipelago, is vital.
The Balearic Islands have an extension of 55,795 hectares of Posidonia meadows, of which 7,650 hectares correspond to the waters of Formentera. This translates into 76.5 million square meters to protect only in Formentera..