In December, 14 press agencies convened in Málaga with some of the region's foremost environmental organizations to find an answer to the challenges facing environmental reporting in the Mediterranean. The conclusions of these two days of debate are echoed in the Málaga Declaration.

More than 50 participants, including journalists from 15 countries on both shores of the Mediterranean, reached out to their counterparts in institutional and NGO press offices to discuss how to cooperate more effectively to improve knowledge and raise awareness of environmental issues in the press. This first Mediterranean Forum was organized by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med) and the EFE Agency in collaboration with the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN), and was hosted at the Municipal Museum of Cultural Heritage (MUPAM) in Málaga.

The Málaga public statement endorsed by the meeting's participants advocates the establishment of a partnership to foster cooperation among environmental and scientific information professionals from Mediterranean countries. The creation of a media network to improve and coordinate scientific and environmental press coverage at Mediterranean level is one of the key objectives identified.

IUCN-Med and AMAN took the opportunity offered by this first Forum to analyse the results of COP 21 in Paris and its implications for the Mediterranean with Teresa Ribera, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), Hugues Ravenel, Director of Plan Bleu, and Abderrahim Houmy, Secretary General of the Moroccan High Commission for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification. The Forum also provided a platform for sharing views on the current state of environmental reporting by press agencies, the need to enhance the quantity and quality of relevant, influential news, and potential sources of support for cooperation among journalists and environmental institutions.

Antonio Troya, Director of IUCN-Med, said, ‘We expect the Málaga Declaration to be the first step towards the establishment of an effective Mediterranean media partnership for the environment. With the collaboration of AMAN, the professional interest of Mediterranean journalists and the institutional support of key institutions, we can now move forward to roll out the much-needed communication, exchanges and collaborative projects for the benefit of a better-informed Mediterranean.'

It is anticipated that the network will look into capacity building and training activities for the media in preparation for the forthcoming COP 22 on Climate Change in Marrakech in November 2016.

For further information: Lourdes Lazaro

Photo: 1st meeting of environmental journalists from News Agencies in the Mediterranean - ©IUCN-Med