Why a Representative Network?

Mediterranean biodiversity is under serious pressure mainly from pollution, overexploitation of marine fisheries, habitat loss and the exacerbating effects of climate change. Specific strategies by individual nations are insufficient to cover the protection of most Mediterranean marine species and the areas and habitats covered by their regulations are not representative of the full range of marine ecosystems in the region. Important habitats and associated marine species in the high seas and in the south and east of the Mediterranean are under-represented by the existing conservation tools and therefore under protected.

Overall, the present approach to marine conservation seems inadequate to achieve a sustainable eco-regional development without losing the biological diversity of its waters.

It seems that one of the most powerful actions to ensure a reasonable protection of this marine biodiversity is by expanding the actual number of management and protected areas and making a coherent and representative network of Mediterranean management zones to conserve biological diversity.

This project lays out the strategy for identifying and building a regionally linked and coordinated network of marine sites ensuring representation of major habitat types and communities, the review of existing Marine Protected Areas or homologues and the involvement of regional sectors and users into the identification of sites for conservation.