More info: andres.alcantara@iucn.org

More info: pedro.regato@iucn.org

More info: sonsoles.sanroman@iucn.org

IUCN Italian and Spanish Committees got together in Bari in May on the occasion of Mediterre to discuss preparation of their Mediterranean contribution towards Congress. Amongst the issues discussed, the establishment of a Mediterranean Federation of Natural Parks and the organisation of a national committee chairs meeting in the region to finetune proposals were at the table, together with the appraisal of the work developed to address the Bangkok resolutions concerning the region..

Jordan has offered to host the meeting with the support of the Italian members, and under the organisation of Federparchi, probably at the beginning of July 2008.

More info: andres.alcantara@iucn.org

Málaga hosts the presence of several institutions dealing with environmental challenges and IUCN is one of them, together with the Málaga city council, which have talked about the current issues facing the region..

You can listen to the interview (in Spanish) to Margarita Astrálaga by Ecoestrategia visiting the IUCN Media website.

And recently, during her participation at the COP9 in Bonn, she pushed for action and less talk. You can listen to her clicking here.

Under the leadership of Montenegro's Ministry of Tourism and Environment, the 2nd Round Table on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Montenegrin Coast (Kotor, 28-29 February) has convened relevant national and Mediterranean organizations including IUCN to identify nature conservation priorities of the country.

Being recently established as an independent state, Montenegro is facing many challenges to nature conservation. By bringing together and allying with regional organizations, experts and policy makers, MNE is identifying ways of action to promote sustainable development of the coasts, while respecting the natural environment and complying with international conventions and standards.

More info: ameer.abdulla@iucn.org

The Triangle area in Damietta, Egypt and the Tipaza Wilaya, Algeria have served as two case studies for the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach for Aquaculture in Mediterranean. Following a week in the field meeting the different stakeholders of the 2 regions, workshops have been held to validate the methodology for the implementation of an ecosystem approach to aquaculture.

Initiated by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, the Ministère de l'Aménagement du Territoire, de l'Environnement et du Tourisme (MATET), the Ministère de la Pêche et des Ressources Halieutiques (MPRH), the Commissariat National du Littoral (CNL), scientists, fishermen were gathered in March in Tipaza to get an overview of the management mechanisms present in the field and to discuss issues concerning the ecosystem of Tipaza.

More info: francois.simard@iucn.org

Welcome to the new staff

The Red List and Species conservation programme has added two new people to the team: Nieves García, intern for 6 months and coming from Madrid, and Dania Abdel Malak, a lebanese national, specialised in forest and rural development and speaking the official IUCN languages, who will start in June 2008.

Finally, Andrea Marshall is joining the Financial team in the months to support the Congress logistics in Spain.

And farewell to some others...

Sochanthy Chhoeung from the marine programme will be leaving soon, after six months in Málaga, and Céline Jacobs will still be helping with aquaculture until July. Isabel Moyano, translator, will stay with us for a few more months..

A workshop was organised from 11 to 13 of March 2008, in the Institut National d'Agronomie de Tunisie (INAT), in Tunis. Eight specialists participated to the workshop, from the Ministry of Environment and several academic institutions. The first morning was dedicated to the presentation of Red List Categories, Criteria and Definitions. Nine students from the Master of Phyto-ressources and Biotechnology of the INAT joined us to be trained on IUCN methods.

In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity committed themselves to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. This target was subsequently endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the United Nations General Assembly and was incorporated as a new target under the Millennium Development Goals.

Only 2 years ahead to reach our target, the parties have assembled in Bonn, Germany, to review current status and agree on priority actions in the short term to fulfill the commitments..

More information, please contact margarita.astralaga@iucn.org

The dialogue between the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the private sector in the Mediterranean bassin is increasing and showing certain solutions or technical aspects to guarantee a better management of natural resources at the level of certain economic activities in the region.

In fact, IUCN-Med has had several strategic discussions with private institutions and companies in the fields of sustainable tourism, renewable energies and also traditional energies (CEPSA, BG in Tunisia, Repsol in Lybia) with an important impact on biodiversity and climate events.

More info: aymeric.eeckman@iucn.org

To give an understanding of their fragile marine resource, 370 students of Salum in the age of 12 to 13 years were invited to an education outdoor event on the 17th February, 2008. This "Nature Day" gave the students the opportunity to approach open-air their natural environment and its issues in a dynamic and hands-on manner. For the first time, twenty-three teachers and the school board faced an innovative concept of outdoor, nature-based learning.

More info: marina.gomei@iucn.org