The first workshop to consolidate local ecotourism clusters was held in the protected areas of Cap de Creus, Aiguamolls, and Montgri Natural Parks in Catalonia (Spain) during the second week of February 2015. This was one of 10 Mediterranean Experience of EcoTourism Product Consolidation and Sustainability Workshops jointly organized by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the IUCN Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) within the framework of the activities of the Mediterranean Experience of Eco-Tourism (MEET) Network. The workshops, training sessions and park visits involved stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including the project partners, government representatives, park managers, and local tour operators and service providers. The 10 workshops will cover 22 protected areas spanning eight MEET countries (Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia).

The principal aim of the workshops is to consolidate park-private sector cooperation ‘clusters' and to provide the participants with the knowledge and skills they need to successfully implement sound ecotourism activities in the unique tour experiences that have been developed in their parks, with the ultimate goal of further increasing the sustainability of MEET products and thus minimizing any possible negative environmental or cultural impacts.

Participants will have the chance to show the valuable lessons they have learnt during the next round of MEET test tours, to be held in Spring (April-June) 2015, and the MEET Network Secretariat has now issued a call for expressions of interest from ecotourism and protected area experts.

The MEET Project is a cross-border cooperative eco-tourism venture funded by the European Union (under the ENPI-CBC Mediterranean Programme 2007-2013), which has resulted in sustainable tourism packages developed using a participatory approach to involve and benefit local communities.

For a chance to learn more about the MEET project and what it offers, and to get involved in the project, please visit the network's website at http://www.meetnetwork.org

You can follow the experts grand Mediterranean tour on twitter (@MedEcotourism).

For further information Carla Danelutti

Photo: Participants at the first training for the three protected areas in Spain, Aiguamolls, Cap de Creus and Montgri Regional Parks. © MEET project