Progress report for
Towards an ecologically representative and efficiently managed network of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas
Achievement at a glance
Context: 1,233 MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) cover 8.9% of the Mediterranean through a large variety of national and international conservation designations. To reach the 10% quantitative part of the CBD Aichi Target 11 and the Barcelona Convention 2020 MPA Roadmap, an additional 27,686 km2 would need to be placed under protection designations.Achievements: The establishment of a connected, ecologically representative, effectively managed and monitored network of Mediterranean MPAs contributes to the long-term conservation of the marine biodiversity and gives significant support to the sustainable development of the region through the following achievements:
- Collection and analysis of data on Mediterranean MPA coverage and management towards an updated version of the Mediterranean database on MPAs (MAPAMED) and the elaboration of the periodical reports on the status of MPAs in the Mediterranean;
- Establishment of an Ad hoc Group of Experts for MPAs in the Mediterranean (AGEM) to provide scientific advice and technical assistance to Regional Activity Centre on Specially Protected Areas (SPA/RAC) of the Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) and the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention;
- Support the Mediterranean countries in strengthening their policy, legal and institutional frameworks in view of the establishment and management of national networks of MPAs;
- Socio-economic and ecological characterization of marine sites suitable to be declared as MPAs;
- Elaboration of management plans and business plans for newly declared or future MPAs in the Mediterranean basin;
- Support the effective implementation of management plans and monitoring programmes in Mediterranean MPAs;
- Capacity-building and peer-to-peer programmes to develop and strengthen effective management of MPAs;
- Providing support to the environmental fund dedicated to the sustainable financing of Mediterranean MPAs, the MedFund established at the initiative of Monaco, France and Tunisia.
Challenges faced in implementation
The building of a comprehensive, coherent and well-managed network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is a priority in the Mediterranean region, but MPAs critically lack permanent funding for operating costs. Only 10 per cent of marine areas covered by conservation measures duly implement management plans due to the lack of financial resources and technical capacity, as well as legal and policy gaps. The majority of Mediterranean MPAs are still not properly implemented, neither effectively managed, nor enforced, and the current network is not ecologically coherent. The focus should be, henceforth, put on the qualitative aspects of the global and regional MPA targets: e.g. management effectiveness, representativity, connectivity, stakeholder involvement, equitable benefit sharing, etc. There is also a need to establish MPAs in areas beyond national jurisdiction to protect deep-sea habitats. To that end, the extension of the List of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs) established under the Barcelona Convention's Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean (SPA/BD Protocol), which currently includes 39 sites, constitutes an important measure to support the conservation of the Mediterranean natural heritage. This extension should embrace, in particular, multilateral and transboundary high sea SPAMIs. A joint cooperation programme between the Secretariats of the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (FAO/GFCM) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on spatial-based protection and management measures for marine biodiversity, is being developed in view of supporting this objective in the Mediterranean region.Beneficiaries
Mediterranean countries (governments, local authorities, public agencies, MPA managers, socio-economic actors, civil society organizations, the scientific community) and people.