The Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, the Italian Federation of Parks and Natural Reserves (Federparchi) on behalf of the IUCN Italian National Committee, the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to identify and carry out specific collaborative projects and activities.

Marine and terrestrial protected areas, species and ecosystems evaluations, cooperation in relation to North-South, marine strategies and biosphere reserves, and communication and dissemination are the potential areas of collaboration for the institutions under this framework.

To move this into action, the signing parties agreed to have annual meetings for the definition of yearly Action plans. The MOU signed included an initial plan with the main activities agreed to work on in the coming months: participation in the IUCN Green List Initiative, collection of records on the presence of alien species to be included in existing data bases; and the elaboration of an inventory of experiences related to sustainable fisheries in marine protected areas.

The Action Plan also comprised a breakdown of responsibilities between the partners. Federparchi, in its coordination role of the IUCN Italian National Committee, will be responsible for the management of the Action Plan.

This MoU strengthens the framework between Italian institutions and IUCN-Med, which started since the Centre was established in Malaga in 2001.

For further info: Antonio Troya