MED News 01/2019

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Editorial

By Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention Secretariat

The time is ripe for decisive action to accelerate the transition to sustainability in the Mediterranean. As we collectively prepare for the 21^st Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP21), let us to take a moment to reflect on what the Mediterranean Action Plan – Barcelona Convention system has accomplished thus far and on what we can do to turn the tide on environmental degradation. The Contracting Parties have built a comprehensive legal and institutional framework encompassing key building blocks for sustainability in the Mediterranean. The network of Regional Activity Centres is providing our community with the required scientific and technical expertise to move forward. What can we do more to ensure that these achievements can translate into a decisive shift to sustainability in the Mediterranean? At this stage, the answer to this question is two-fold: compliance with and full implementation of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. The Coordinating Unit of the UN Environment/MAP will continue to support Contracting Parties and Partners to make the much-needed progress on capacity-building and resource-mobilization in these areas. But let us remember that the Barcelona Convention is much more than a legal text: it epitomizes the essence of multilateralism and basin-wide solidarity that constitute our greatest strength.

15 July 2019

International Workshop «Implementation of Nature Based Solutions to tackle climate change: Focus on the Mediterranean region»

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Latest CO-EVOLVE video is out

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New guidelines targeting the better management of marine litter from sea-based sources in ports and marinas in the Mediterranean discussed in Seville, Spain

MAP Progress

MAP voice heard at the UN Environment Assembly (Nairobi, Kenya, 11-15 March 2019)

MAP Progress

Meeting of Experts on the finalization of the Classification of benthic marine habitat types for the Mediterranean region and the Reference List of Marine and Coastal Habitat Types in the Mediterranean (Rome, Italy, 22-23 January 2019)

MAP Progress

Science-Policy Interface (SPI) to support monitoring implementation plans as well as sub-regional and regional policy-developments.

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Climagine, co-building the coast of the future

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20th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), Athens (Greece, 23-24 January 2019)

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Further sub-regional cooperation on marine pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

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Mediterranean symposia on marine key habitats and non-indigenous species: a scientific gathering to share knowledge and foster marine biodiversity conservation

The Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre (SPA/RAC) organized the Mediterranean symposia on marine key habitats and non-indigenous species, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), as follows:

6^th Mediterranean symposium on marine vegetation (from 14 to 15 January 2018)
3^rd Mediterranean symposium on the conservation of coralligenous and other calcareous bio-concretions (from 15 to 16 January 2018)
2^nd Mediterranean symposium on the conservation of the dark habitats (16 January 2018)
1^st Mediterranean symposium on the non-indigenous species (from 17 to 18 January 2018)

The symposia aim essentially at providing an opportunity to exchange the most recent scientific information on marine biodiversity conservation while promoting the cooperation between specialists working on the Mediterranean Sea.

Key note conferences, oral communications, poster sessions and round tables were organized to present the most recent studies dealing with marine key habitats and species introduction in the Mediterranean, and to discuss the best strategies of biodiversity conservation and restoration in the Mediterranean Sea.

“The symposia are also a good opportunity to discuss new topics such as the monitoring, the definition of Good Environmental Status in the Mediterranean and to strengthen links between scientists and scientific institutions”, says Khalil ATTIA, SPA/RAC Director.

Furthermore, a photographic exhibition was held at the conference venue. 26 panels were displayed, presenting marine landscapes made up of marine vegetation meadows, corals, dark habitats, as well as non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean Sea. The pictures were taken by Mathieu FOULQUIÉ and Renaud DUPUY DE LA GRANDRIVE, two naturalists, marine biologists, divers and photographers.

The Mediterranean symposia on marine key habitats and non-indigenous species held in Turkey were financed by the MAVA Foundation and the Mediterranean Trust Fund.

The proceedings of the four symposia are available at the following links:

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MAP Progress