Master's Degree in Protected Areas, Natural Resources and Biodiversity

The Master in Protected Areas, Natural Resources and Biodiversity (MAPRNB) is supported by more than 30 years of continuous teaching experience in the degrees of Biology and Environmental Sciences, with its corresponding third cycle, and in the degrees of Biology, Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology that happen to them, as well as in the extensive research activity of the seven areas involved (Cell Biology, Botany, Crystallography and Mineralogy, Ecology, Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Toxicology, Zoology). His direct background is two master's degrees taught from the academic year 2008/09 to 2014/15: that of Management of Biodiversity in Mediterranean Environments and that of Sustainable Use and Protection of Soil in Mediterranean Environments .

The MAPRNB encompasses, from a multidisciplinary approach, lines of research and technical-professional training related to essential aspects of territory management, including key elements and resources such as land or protected areas, both terrestrial and marine (including their influence on resources extractives such as mining or fishing), activities such as agriculture or tourism, in development scenarios conditioned by exploitation processes with a strong environmental impact and restoration needs, and global phenomena such as climate change. All this concentrated in the Region of Murcia, a relatively small territory but with an important research infrastructure, and with an evident projection towards the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, and other European, North African and Latin American regions.

The training offer in these subjects rarely presents, as in this case, an orientation that integrates under one title the aspects related to biodiversity, edaphological, geological heritage and their management under a unifying prism, such as spatial networks based on natural infrastructure of the territory (Natura 2000), and horizontal environmental integration strategies (agrarian policy, rural development), as well as opportunities and mechanisms for their financing.

Master's file

Justification

The Master in Protected Areas, Natural Spaces and Biodiversity (hereinafter MAPRNB) is based, on the one hand, on more than thirty years of continuous experience in teaching the Bachelor of Biology and later that of Environmental Sciences, with its corresponding third cycle , in the degrees of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences that follow from the 2009-10 academic year, and in the extensive research activity of the seven areas involved (Cell Biology, Botany, Crystallography and Mineralogy, Ecology, Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry, Toxicology, Zoology).

On the other hand, the proposed title has the following University Masters as direct background:

• Master in Biodiversity Management in Mediterranean Environments, which has been taught continuously from the 2008/2009 academic year to 2012/2013, and was again offered in the 2014-15 academic year, initially as part of an official Postgraduate Program, and authorized in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 56/2005. In the 2009/2010 academic year, the Master used the abbreviated procedure for the verification of Master's degrees, in order to adapt to the new regulatory framework established by Royal Decree 1393/2007.
• Master in Sustainable Use and Soil Protection in Mediterranean Environments, which has also been offered since the 2008/2009 academic year, having also accepted in the 2009/10 academic year the abbreviated procedure for the verification of master's degrees, in order to adapt to the new regulatory framework established by Royal Decree 1393/2007. Finally, in May 2013, the proposed title modifications were approved by ANECA, which basically affected the TFM, which went from 6 to 18 ECTS credits.

Competencies

Basic skills

• Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a research context
• That the students know how to apply the acquired knowledge and their problem-solving capacity in new or little-known environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study
• That students are able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of formulating judgments from information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• That students know how to communicate their conclusions and the latest knowledge and reasons that support them to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
• That students have the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed or autonomous.

General Powers

• Analyze and interpret the distribution patterns of biodiversity, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity, and the processes and factors involved in their formation and degradation.
• Sample, characterize and monitor terrestrial and marine biological populations and communities, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity.
• Obtain information, design experiments and samplings, and interpret the results.
• Identify and diagnose threat factors for the conservation and management of biodiversity, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity
• Identify and diagnose priority conservation areas and gaps in networks and systems of protected areas.
• Identify biological, geological or edaphic components of importance or interest in management and use them, as appropriate, as indicators
• Plan the use of biological, geological and edaphic resources in the context of sustainable development and the conservation of natural and cultural heritage.

Specific Competences

• Perform services and issue reports related to biodiversity, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity.
• Direct, write and execute projects in relation to biodiversity, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity.
• Design and evaluate strategies and management plans to preserve the quality and integrity of biological, geological and edaphic values and resources, particularly in the face of the effects of climate change.
• Design and evaluate planning, design and management instruments for protected natural areas and reserve systems, with special reference to Natura 2000 and other international conservation networks
• Analyze, evaluate and maintain the economic potential of ecosystem services.
• Evaluate, quantify, correct and restore the affections and impacts on biodiversity, soils, geological heritage and other components of geodiversity.

Graduation profile

The research and / or professional specialization acquired must train graduates for research on issues related to the management of natural heritage and biodiversity (through the completion of a Doctoral Thesis), or for the design and execution of programs and projects related to these same topics, within the framework of diverse organizations (administration, consulting companies, non-governmental organizations, etc.). Contact with these worlds throughout the training period (in curricular internships and other facets of the Master) will contribute to creating professionals capable of offering their services to these organizations.