100 schoolchildren dive in and learn about the importance of posidonia and the undersea environment

foto 2022 busseja amb posi BThis week and last, one hundred local primary school pupils participated "Diving with Posi", an initiative organised by the Vellmarí Association with the collaboration of the Formentera Offices of Education and Environment.

This activity includes an undersea workshop and a diving experience in the sea with goggles and fins. "The goal is to inspire children and young people and teach them the value of posidonia meadows and biodiversity in the Mediterranean", explained Cristina Ozores, director of marine education for the Vellmarí Association and educator with National Geographic.

For her part, Susana Labrador, Councillor of Education, praised the organisers' initiative "because now, in a totally practical way, participants discover the importance of taking care of our sea". In that connection, Antoni Tur, Councillor of Environment, said, "We must foster environmental awareness from an early age, so that the baseline is an eagerness to work towards a more sustainable world".

Pupils at CEIP El Pilar and CEIP Sant Ferran de ses Roques took part in the activity last week. Pupils from CEIP Mestre Lluís Andreu will get their turn to take the plunge Thursday and Friday (9-10 June). Participants receive instructions at a theory-driven workshop before going into the water, then, in groups and with diving instructors, biologists and environmental educators, they visit an area with shallow posidonia meadows where they can observe the seagrass and examples of biodiversity like pomfrets, the Mediterranean rainbow wrasse, amphibians and starfish up close.

The Vellmarí Association published a book entitled Bussejant amb na Posi which has been distributed in schools in years past. This year it will be made available in a digital format. Participating schoolchildren will also receive a souvenir poster.


7 June 2022
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera