One of the main tasks of PEGASO's shared ICZM Platform was to carry out a benchmark assessment of the current state of ICZM in Mediterranean and Black Sea countries, as required by Article 16 of the ICZM Protocol for the Mediterranean. In September 2010, the Black Sea Commission Permanent Secretariat (BSC-PS) agreed to adopt this approach for the Black Sea basin. Stocktaking for ICZM was then carried out in a comparable way for both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea countries, with a review of current ICZM-related legislative, institutional, policy and financial frameworks.

A draft questionnaire was prepared by PAP/RAC (Priority Action Programme/Regional Activity Centre)and involved broad consultation, including a workshop with National Focal Points (NFPs) for the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean, held in Portoroz, Slovenia, in September 2010. The Mediterranean NFPs subsequently validated the Mediterranean questionnaire, whilst the Advisory Group (AG) on the Development of Common Methodologies for ICZM validated the questionnaire on behalf of the Black Sea Commission, also in September 2010.

In the Mediterranean, the stocktake made an important contribution to the Barcelona Convention system in terms of providing initial guidance on drafting the official UNEP/MAP reporting format for the ICZM Protocol and a baseline for measuring progress in implementing the Protocol.

Early results of the stocktake were also instrumental in informing the action plan for the implementation of the ICZM Protocol for 2012-2019, which was officially adopted by the 17th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 17) in 2012.

For the Black Sea, the ICZM AG members advised using the regional stocktake synthesis report as the basis for the ICZM part of the report on the implementation of the Black Sea Strategic Action Plan (SAP), due in 2014-2015.

Proposed follow up actions
During COP 17 the Contracting Parties decided to update the data gathered through the stocktaking questionnaire bi-annually. Therefore, this report on the stocktake is the baseline for measuring future progress in the implementation of the ICZM Protocol.

The technical reports can be obtained at request: Zelijka Skaricic (PAP/RAC)

Figure: Aggregated responses by themes in the Mediterranean