Starfish, corals and groupers:at the Genoa Aquarium a room for protected areas

Four new tanks to immerse yourself in the biodiversity of the Ligurian Sea.There is also a live underwater webcam

GENOA – Starfish, groupers, shrimps and corals.But also an octopus, hermit crabs, anemones and posidonia.These are some of the beauties of the Ligurian Sea that can be observed from today at the Genoa Aquarium, thanks to the new room dedicated to marine protected areas, which in Liguria are three:Portofino, Cinque Terre and Bergeggi.The inauguration this morning, in the presence, among others, of the president of Costa Edutainment which manages the structure, Beppe Costa, and the president of the Liguria Region, Giovanni Toti.The objective of the new exhibition space is to establish an information and dissemination point for the research and conservation activities carried out within the marine protected areas and onimportance of their role in safeguarding biodiversity.

“Marine protected areas are the main actors for the preservation of biodiversity - explains Laura Castellano, curator of the Mediterranean department of the Genoa Aquarium - we are committed to scientific dissemination and the protection of nature, so we have decided to invest in creating a area dedicated to these areas.Inside the room there are four tanks that represent the typical environments of Ligurian marine protected areas. There are better known animals and others more unknown and sought after.They are pools waiting to be discovered“.In the room, immediately after the shark tank, there are also three video stations where the public can admire the beauty of the Ligurian marine protected areas, learn about the protection and safeguard activities carried out by the Coast Guard at sea and, thanks to an underwater webcam , immerse yourself in real time in the seabed of the protected marine area of ​​Bergeggi Island.

Inside the new room, the Genoa Aquarium faces also the issue of plastic pollution in the sea through two design installations made of recycled plastic obtained from ghost nets recovered from the sea, which constitute a serious threat to many marine species. “It's an iconic room– comments President Beppe Costa – meanwhile it renews the Aquarium, as we constantly do, and then gives the message that the Aquarium is not isolated, but integrates with the territory.A message is sent about the commitment that all of us must make every day to preserve marine protected areas. We try to teach many people how beautiful the marine world is and how it should be respected“.
For governor Giovanni Toti, the new room "is a way to entertain the many visitors to the Aquarium in an even richer way, to make known the beauty of our sea and to demonstrate that safeguarding the environment can also be an attraction and a driver of new tourism and wealth for the territory“.