The island's Minister of Heritage, Óscar Portas, presented this afternoon together with the underwater archaeologist Javier Rodríguez Pandozi, from the Institute of Maritime Archeology Studies (IBEAM), the new SOS Patrimoni application, a tool that will facilitate and speed up the bringing to the attention of the institution the findings of fortuitous underwater archaeological remains.

In 2019, a first campaign was already carried out to raise awareness of the importance of never extracting any archaeological remains from the seabed, as this decontextualizes and endangers their conservation and to notify the competent administration, that in Formentera is the Insular Council. As part of this campaign, leaflets were printed in which the Council's telephone number was provided to contact in the event of an underwater archaeological remains being located and in the event of a fortuitous or accidental find.

Now IBEAM and the Council have developed a more agile system through the creation of a website called SOS PATRIMONI (SOS – Underwater Cultural Heritage (sospatrimonio.org)) with the general aim of promoting dialogue between the local community and local administration and, the specific objective of providing an agile and direct channel of communication of underwater archaeological finds.

Through SOS - Underwater Cultural Heritage (sospatrimonio.org) with a simple click you can inform the Insular Council of Formentera and the IBEAM that a heritage asset has been located underwater and start the verification procedure, documentation and, if necessary, appropriate protective measures.

The Insular Council of Formentera has been collaborating since 2015 with the Institut Balear d'Estudis en Arqueologia Marítima, a non-profit cultural association that aims to research, protect and disseminate maritime heritage in the Balearic Islands. The result of this collaboration is the Underwater Archaeological Map of Formentera, which is in its second phase, in which the groups of divers, fishermen and people related to nautical activities in general are collaborating very actively.

The IBEAM Council's contribution is channeled through annual collaboration agreements. The 2023 agreement and within the actions to protect the submerged heritage of Formentera, included the development of the SOS HERITAGE program.