History
Co-founded in 2020 by José Escaño, Tatí Benjumea, and Fiona Tomas, MedGardens has established itself as a leading initiative in marine restoration in the Mediterranean and as the third project of the Cleanwave Foundation.
Portocolom, Formentor, and Sant Elm (Mallorca) were initially selected based on socio-ecological criteria. In 2023, we launched our first large-scale project in Portocolom.
In the early stages, experts such as Dr. Adriana Vergés (UNSW & Sydney Institute of Marine Science) and Martin Colognoli from Coral Guardian contributed their strategic insights to the project.
Motivation
Our motivation is to restore underwater forests and seagrass meadows to improve their ecological condition alongside an engaged community, generating open knowledge, fostering local cohesion, and providing solutions to global change.
We achieve this through an integrated restoration model that combines a scientific approach with marine stewardship, designed to be replicable in other shallow bays across the Mediterranean. This will allow us to scale up our efforts to restore eight bays in the Balearic Islands by 2030.
Culture and Values
We place people and their environment at the heart of our actions, ensuring that they promote community inclusion, which we consider an essential part of our work. We respect the diversity of cultures and languages and communicate using inclusive language that reflects our values and diversity.
We are committed to open, honest, and transparent communication and strive to ensure these values are consistently reflected in everything we do.
Guided by science, we act responsibly and promote collaboration, working to stay well-informed and ensuring that our knowledge is always accessible.
Science · Community Inclusion · Transparency · Conservation · Restoration · Nature-Based Solutions · Collaboration · Commitment · Responsibility · Marine Stewardship · Regenerative Life · Respect for Local Culture