MSC Foundation and Vellmari Launch Ibiza Posidonia Project
Over three years, roughly six hundred volunteers and twenty-four dive centres are expected to join, with twenty-eight educators trained during the project.
MSC Foundation and Asociación Vellmari have launched “Shallow Bays of the Mediterranean,” a three-year Posidonia oceanica restoration and education program scheduled to run from August 2026 through July 2029. The project starts in Talamanca Bay, Ibiza, and aims to plant 170,000 to 180,000 seagrass plants while adding about 20,000 square metres of degraded coastal habitat to Vellmari’s restoration work.
The program expands an existing MSC Foundation-Vellmari partnership in Formentera and adds a larger education and volunteer component. More than 30,000 people are expected to take part. Vellmari, a Formentera-based marine conservation and education association founded in 1993, will lead the project.
Ibiza restoration will test the model
The first phase in Talamanca Bay will be used to develop and test the project’s restoration and education methodology. If the model is scientifically validated, the partners intend to adapt it for Palma de Mallorca and the Barcelona coastline in later phases.
Posidonia oceanica is a flowering seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean, where its meadows support marine habitats, store blue carbon, help stabilise seabeds and protect shorelines from erosion. The project combines planting and monitoring with school programs, citizen science, diver training and volunteer field work.
“How easy it is to destroy these ecosystems, but extraordinarily difficult to restore them,” said Manu San Felix, founder of Asociación Vellmari. “That is why protecting the Posidonia meadows that remain must be our top priority.”
Schools and dive centres join the program
The education component is expected to reach about 6,000 students across 30 schools and education centres. The partners also plan to involve roughly 600 volunteers and train 28 educators and 24 dive centres over the three-year period.
“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 Vellmari.
Program introduced during EXPLORA III naming events
The program was introduced aboard EXPLORA III during events connected with the ship’s naming ceremony. Ozores was also named godmother of the vessel.
Daniela Picco, executive director of the MSC Foundation, said the partnership brings “scientific expertise, education and community participation” into the same conservation effort. She said Ozores’ role as EXPLORA III godmother was “a fitting symbol” of the collaboration’s focus on the sea.
MSC Foundation, MSC Group’s philanthropic arm, began working with Vellmari in Formentera in 2024 under the foundation’s wider partnership with Mission Blue, the ocean conservation organisation founded by Dr. Sylvia Earle. During the first two years of that work, Vellmari planted more than 78,000 Posidonia oceanica plants and brought 2,700 square metres of damaged meadow around Formentera under restoration.
The partners did not disclose a budget for the new three-year program. Expansion beyond Ibiza will depend on ecological feasibility, final site selection and consultation with local stakeholders.
