An important joint meeting between three main regional organizations, the UNEP-Mediterranean Action Plan (represented the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas - RAC/SPA), the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean of FAO (GFCM) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) that have among their mandates the development of spatial base management measures for marine conservation and sustainable development, in particular Marine Protected Areas (MPA), was held in Tunis (Tunisia) on 9-12 June 2015.

The aim of the meeting was to convene experts and representatives of their focal points and contact organisations in the Mediterranean countries, including IUCN, OCEANA and MedPAN, to assess the progress made so far in developing marine conservation sites in the Mediterranean. Other two main tasks for the meeting were to take stock of the available knowledge about the Mediterranean marine areas of special conservation interest because of their importance for biodiversity conservation, especially regarding cetacean critical habitats (CCH), and the sustainability of fisheries and to investigate options for further harmonising the processes for the establishment of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI).

During the meeting new scientific data on important areas for cetaceans was provided by the experts working with ACCOBAMS, in particular in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. A document describing a list of protected areas (existing or proposed) containing CCH was presented in order to prepare a workshop in the coming months on the effectiveness of MPAs containing cetaceans. Regarding the Western Mediterranean region, the non-governmental organisation CIRCE presented relevant information on the Strait of Gibraltar with the presence of 7 types of cetaceans in the zone, and several studies of sighting in Northern and Southern Alboran, while the GFCM-FAO experts presented the progress made in the development of Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs), fisheries reserves and other measures of conservation developed with the countries in and beyond national jurisdiction.

The contribution from the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation was a presentation on the different instruments for marine conservation and management at European level (Fisheries Protected Areas and Fish Stock Recovery Areas) in comparison with the Fisheries Restricted Areas of GFCM-FAO. Finally, the RAC/SPA presented the overall activities realized for the development of SPAMI, in particular the recent evaluation of most of the existing declared sites and the plans for the future.

The conservation and management of the Mediterranean areas beyond national jurisdiction was discussed and experts agreed that this issue requires the involvement of all relevant organisations. In this context, a joint strategy is under preparation between the UNEP/MAP, ACCOBAMS, FAO-GFCM Secretariats, with the collaboration of IUCN and MedPAN, that will be presented to the Barcelona Convention for consideration, revision and eventually adoption early 2016.

For further information: Alain Jeudy

Photo: ©IUCN, Participants in the meeting on the protection of marine areas in the Mediterranean.