IUCN-Med has signed a collaboration agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Land Management and Environment to organize the first Congress for Nature Conservation in North Africa. The signing ceremony took place on 16 June in the Ministry in the presence of Mr Mohamed Bacha, General Secretary of the Ministry.

Organized at the Doñana Biological Station (Huelva, Spain) with the support of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the workshop brought together 12 experts from different Mediterranean countries and dealt with the conservation status of dung beetles in the Mediterranean region.

A workshop was held on 27-29 May 2014 in Tunisia, aiming to address the current conservation situation of the Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) in that country. The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, with the support of Tunisia's Forestry Department and the Ministry of Environment, organized the workshop to discuss and validate a strategic conservation plan for the species in Tunisia.

More than 20 representatives of protected areas from nine Mediterranean countries gathered near the Natural Reserve of Monte Rufeno (Lazio Region, Italy) from 28 to 30 May 2014 in a training workshop on how to develop ecotourism products and promote the most innovative ecotourism principles around the Mediterranean.

The seminar was part of a series of training workshops for key stakeholders involved in the management of protected areas within the MEET project (Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism). The objective is to provide participants with the knowledge and tools they need to develop and disseminate an ecotourism model.

On 19 June the city of Tripoli (Libya) hosted the workshop launching the programme ‘Small-Scale Initiatives for Civil Society Organizations in North Africa' (PPI-OSCAN). This workshop, which was attended by 50 participants, marked the official opening of this new initiative involving both NGOs and governments. The Libyan administration is to be congratulated on its involvement from the beginning, particularly through the support provided by the Environment General Authority (EGA).

The MEDINA project, or Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and Indicators for North Africa, organized three workshops during the summer, in which IUCN-Med took part as a coordinator.

During the Doñana International Birdfair held from 1 to 4 May the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med) organized a Spanish-Moroccan workshop on ornithological tourism, in collaboration with the Moroccan Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte Contre la Désertification [High Commission for Waters and Forests and the Fight against Desertification] (HCEFLCD) and SEO/BirdLife.

As World Environment Day was celebrated on 5 June, the city of Málaga made its contribution by developing several initiatives to raise awareness among youngsters about the conservation of their environment.

During its last two meetings, the IUCN Council validated the Bureau's decision to admit 18 new Members. Six of them are from the Mediterranean region, and the Morocco National Committee of IUCN Members has also been officially recognised.