2015_05_03_CIE_miranda
Prof. Rafael Miranda, coordinator of the Spanish Fish Farming Charter
This is the largest inventory of river biodiversity promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
PHOTO: Manuel Castells
Rafael Miranda, professor of the School of Sciences of the University of Navarra, has been in charge of coordinating the creation of the Spanish Fish Chart, the largest inventory of Spanish fluvial biodiversity. The project, developed by the Iberian Society of Ichthyology and promoted by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has managed to compile nearly 60,000 records of freshwater fish, making it the largest inventory of these living beings in Spain.
The work has been carried out thanks to the information provided by research centers and public administrations that has been incorporated into a database that brings together fish biology and ecology. This is a project of great importance because of the need to have this information to develop monitoring plans, control and conservation strategies.
As Rafael Miranda explained, "the first step for the conservation of biodiversity is the knowledge of the status of this biodiversity. With the Spanish Fish Charter we aim to disseminate and contribute to the knowledge of the Iberian freshwater fish, the group least known and most endangered vertebrate species in our environment".