For the first time in the Mediterranean, over 300 key players involved in the marine environment have gathered to share their experiences and develop a joint Roadmap toadvance the network of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean.
Coming from one of the 21 countries bordering the Mediterranean and beyond,representatives of national agencies, field managers, scientists, non governmentalorganisations, regional or international partners, and local economic actors, have cometo share their experiences, and learnt from each other, and networked.
The Antalya Declaration and the 2012 Mediterranean MPAs Roadmap
The Antalya declaration, and the Roadmap resulting from the 2012 Forum, are the outcome of a broad participatory process involving all the players involved (scientists, managers, decision-makers, private sector, civil society) in Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas.
The Roadmap elaboration process was conducted using a step by step approach. Ahead of the 2012 Forum of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean that took place in Antalya, Turkey, input was sought from the Forum Steering Committee, members and partners of the MedPAN network, the main European Mediterranean and international institutions, the Ministries in charge of MPAs (SPA/RAC focal points in particular) and all the participants of the Forum (scientists, managers, fishermen representatives, NGOs, donors ….).
The roadmap was in a second phase enriched with the results of all discussions and exchanges that took place at the Forum. It was approved by all the participants during the last day of the Forum. The Roadmap is not a document committing countries formally but it makes it possible to define the steps that Mediterranean countries, relevant organisations and other stakeholders could individually and/or jointly undertake to achieve the 2020 objectives set for the MPA network in the Mediterranean.
Spotlight on the Status of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas in 2012
The Forum is also an opportunity to share the main results of the 2012 Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean conducted by MedPAN and SPA/RAC.
The Mediterranean is considered to be one of the world priority ecoregions and is one of the major marine and coastal biodiversity hotspots. Although it represents less than 1% of the global ocean surface, it hosts almost 20% of global marine biodiversity and has a high level of endemism with up to nearly 50% for some groups. It is an important breeding area for several key pelagic species, and some of these are threatened. There is intense urbanisation, tourism, shipping traffic, overfishing, pollution and global changes which weigh heavily on this environment.
SPA/RAC and MedPAN are working alongside their partners (IUCN, WWF, local NGOs, research organisations, …) to establish an ecological network of MPAs to protect at least 10% of the marine and coastal waters which is representative of the Mediterranean’s diversity and made up of ecologically interconnected and well managed MPAs, in accordance with the guidelines of that time from the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Barcelona Convention.
The aim of this study is to evaluate in 2012 the progress that has been made, since the first inventory done in 2008, on the Mediterranean system of MPAs in view of the above mentioned objectives: does the network cover 10% of the Mediterranean, is it representative of the Mediterranean’s diversity, are MPAs well-connected and well managed?
This study has used the MAPAMED, 2011-2012 inventory made on MPAs and a survey questionnaire sent to managers, both conducted jointly by MedPAN and SPA/RAC.
The 2012 Forum Programme and Proceedings
2012 Forum of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean: a Roadmaptowards 2020!
The 2012 Forum for Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean was held on 25th-28th November 2012 in Antalya (Turkey) and was organised by the MedPAN Association and its partners, the SPA/RAC, the General Directorate for Protection of Natural Assets (Turkey) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkey. The event closed with the adoption of a Roadmap whose aim is to achieve by 2020 a comprehensive, ecological representative, effectively managed and monitored network of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean.
You can have a look at the 2012 Forum Proceedings to know more about the plenary sessions, round tables, workshops and focus sessions that happened during the event and all the 2012 Forum recommendations.
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The 2012 Photos and Videos
