Monaco

Europa

276

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Monaco is the second smallest state in the world and virtually all its territory is built up, so its natural heritage is essentially marine. Its waters form part of the Pelagos Sanctuary, a protected area created in 1999 together with France and Italy for the conservation of the marine mammals of the northwestern Mediterranean, where fin whales, sperm whales, pilot whales and striped dolphins gather, drawn by the productivity of the Ligurian Sea currents. Off the coast, the marine reserves of Larvotto and the Tombant des Spélugues protect meadows of Posidonia oceanica, a marine plant that forms genuine underwater forests, oxygenates the water, binds the sediment and serves as a nursery for fish and invertebrates. The Principality also has a historic institutional relationship with marine science through its oceanographic museum, opened in 1910.

The nature of Monaco

National animal: No official national animal

Did you know?

One of the founding discoveries of immunology was made aboard the yacht of Prince Albert I of Monaco. Studying the venom of the Portuguese man o' war collected during his oceanographic campaigns, the physiologists Charles Richet and Paul Portier observed that a second, minimal dose could kill an animal that had survived the first. They named that phenomenon anaphylaxis, and the finding earned Richet the Nobel Prize in 1913.

Biodiversity profile

Europa Occidental (microestado mediterraneo)Dato no disponible con precision en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Mediterraneo (Csa), veranos calidos y secos, inviernos suaves

Main biomes

•Matorral mediterraneo costero (vegetacion muy reducida por la altisima urbanizacion del territorio)
•Pradera de posidonia
•Litoral rocoso mediterráneo
•Cañón submarino
•Mar profundo
•Acantilado calizo
•Jardín de sucesión mediterránea

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Aguas mediterraneas costeras, con esfuerzos de conservacion marina notables pese al reducido tamaño terrestre del pais (praderas de posidonia, arrecifes artificiales)

Flagship wildlife

•Especies marinas mediterraneas costeras (peces de roca, invertebrados de arrecife)
•Aves marinas de paso migratorio
•Rorcual común
•Cachalote
•Delfín listado
•Delfín mular
•Calderón común
•Mero moreno
•Tortuga boba
•Nacra común
•Pez luna
•Halcón peregrino

Notable endemic species

•Endemismo terrestre practicamente inexistente dado el reducido tamaño y la urbanizacion casi total del territorio (segundo pais mas pequeño del mundo)

Notable threatened species

•Dato no disponible con precision especifica en fuentes verificadas consultadas; el valor de conservacion de Monaco reside principalmente en sus programas marinos y su rol historico en la investigacion oceanografica

Notable protected areas

•Reserva marina del Larvotto (una de las primeras areas marinas protegidas del Mediterraneo)
•Santuario Pelagos
•Reserva Marina de Larvotto
•Reserva del Tombant des Spélugues
•Museo Oceanográfico de Mónaco
•Jardín Exótico de Mónaco

Main conservation threats

•Urbanizacion casi total del territorio terrestre
•Presion sobre ecosistemas marinos costeros por trafico maritimo y desarrollo litoral

Notable natural phenomena

•Monaco tiene una larga tradicion en investigacion oceanografica, vinculada historicamente al Instituto Oceanografico fundado por el Principe Alberto I

Conservation

The Principality funds Mediterranean marine conservation programmes through its environmental foundation. The noble pen shell, the largest bivalve in the Mediterranean, has suffered mass mortality since 2016 from a parasite and is critically endangered.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Watching trips across the Pelagos Sanctuary between June and September for fin whale and striped dolphin. Diving at Larvotto for the Posidonia meadow.

Monaco es miembro del Convenio Alpino pese a que su territorio alpino es minimo (menos de 2 km2 cerca del Col de Tende), reflejo de su interes en cuestiones transfronterizas de biodiversidad.

Sources: Grokipedia - Alpine states

Grassland Ocean