On 2 February 2015 the Secretary General of the Moroccan High Commission for Water, Forests and the Fight against Desertification (HCEFLCD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation for the development and implementation of a project to support the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands in Morocco.

Representatives of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, stakeholders and institutions active in environmental issues and sustainable development, including the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, discussed the first draft of the revised Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) during a two-day conference hosted by the Government of Malta on 17 and 18 February 2015.

The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation has launched a Virtual Library on seagrass along the Andalusian coast. It is intended primarily for managers and public officials as well as private companies interested in marine meadows and in evaluating the impact that certain coastal activities may have had on these important ecosystems, particularly Posidonia oceanica beds, which are classified by the European Union Habitats Directive as ‘priority habitat' due to their community importance.

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.

Fifteen civil society organizations (CSOs) in Morocco shortlisted for the second phase of the Small-Scale Initiatives Programme for Civil Society Organizations in North Africa (PPI-OSCAN) participated in a workshop organized by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation with the aim of strengthening NGO project development capabilities.

The project ‘Conserving wild plants and habitats for people in the South and East Mediterranean', which was launched in October 2014, is moving ahead. The Scientific Institute of Mohamed V University in Rabat (Morocco) has recently hosted (24-27 March 2015),  the first workshop for experts who are going to document the conservation status and distribution of selected rare and threatened plant species in Important Plant Areas (IPAs), especially in those countries where information is insufficient (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine).

More than 60 experts on marine protected areas gathered at Hurghada on the Egyptian Red Sea coast on 19-21 January, in a symposium organized by the IUCN Regional Office for Western Asia (ROWA) and supported by the Arab League. The aim of the conference was to establish a process for preparing a regional strategy and action plan in the Arab world to support new marine protected areas and good management practices, and to promote cross-sector coordination.

The IUCN Council admitted 13 new Members during its 85th held in January 2015. Five of them are from Mediterranean countries (France, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco and Uk). The new Members are being informed of their admission by the regional Membership Focal Points and the news has been announced via the Union Portal and website.