Block 3. MEDITERRANEAN REGION SESSION II
Coordinated by PANACeA
The goal of the session was:
- To showcase the joint achievements on marine litter assessment and management tools by the Interreg Med Biodiversity Protection Community, opening a wider discussion on existing gaps and challenges, and the needed actionsand integrated solutionsat Mediterranean scale.
Coordinators:
- Emanuele Bigagli - PANACeA Expert
- Carolina Pérez – MedCities
- Sonsoles San Román - ETC UMA – PANACeA
Opening speech
“The Interreg Med Biodiversity Protection Community in the Mediterranean and evidence-based frameworks to support policy development”. Dania Abdul Malak - Director ETC-UMA, PANACeA
Tackling Marine Litter in the Mediterranean: Setting the play and identifying the challenges ahead through questions and answers
Moderator:
Round table 1: Our Action – Joint achievements on marine litter assessment and management
• Morgana Vighi , University of Barcelona, MEDSEALITTER
• Ignasi Mateo ,SCP RAC – Catalan Waste Agency, Act4Litter/PlasticBustersMPAs
• Gloria García, Natural Park Cabo de Gata - Nijar, Act4Litter
Round table 2: Linking to other Mediterranean initiatives
• Celia Le Ravallec, ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative - Collecting floating marine litter sightings
• George Triantafyllou, HCMR, AMAre and CLAIM – Innovation for a cleaner Mediterranean
• Gloria de Paoli, ACTeon for Plan Bleu - A socio-economic dimension
• Marie Aude Sevin, IUCN-Med, Local solutions from source to sea
Round table 3: What’s Next? Challenges and the way ahead
• Magali Outters,, UNEP MAP SCP/RAC
• François Galgani, IFREMER
• Cristina Fossi, University of Sienna
• Francesca López Cortés, Director of National Park of Cabrera, PlasticBustersMPAs
Participatory exercise to draw conclusions
Wrap up and closing
Dania Abdul Malak - Director ETC-UMA, PANACeA
A Med Biodiversity Protection Community open session was held as part of MARLICE on 11 April from 14:30 to 17:30 hrs to present the common work and results of Interreg Med Marine litter initiatives. The session was organised by MedCities, ETC-UMA, Plan Bleu, and the Biodiversity Protection Community featured by PANACeA
Led by ETC-UMA, the session stressed the relevance of an ecosystem-based approach to policy development and summarised the main findings and achievements of the Interreg MED Biodiversity Protection Community, featured by PANACeA, regarding marine litter monitoring and management, with a focus on impacts on biodiversity and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and in a wider context. The gathering highlighted remaining gaps and joint recommendations for the forward-looking actions that are needed. The tools developed and/or enhanced by the Community were tested through a hands-on exercise to share their potential, obtain feedback on improvements and expand their use.
Round table 2: George Triantafyllou (HCMR), Gloria de Paoli (PlanBleu) and Marie Aude Sevin, IUCN-Med
Round table 3: Emanuele Bigagli (PANACeA Expert), Magali Outters(UNEP MAP SPC/RAC), Cristina Fossi (University of Siena), Francesca López Cortés (National Park of Cabrera) and François Galgani (IFREMER)
Plastic Busters MPAs, one of the Modular Projects belonging to the Interreg MED Biodiversity Protection Community, held an Info session in the morning. Plastic Busters MPAs aims to contribute to maintaining biodiversity and preserving natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal protected areas by consolidating Mediterranean efforts to address marine litter. The open workshop was followed by an internal meeting of Interreg Med Biodiversity Protection Community partners on 12 April to build on the workshop conclusions and discuss gaps and needs for future priority actions.
Download the Capitalization Workshop Agenda on "Marine Litter knowledge and tools in Mediterranean protected areas" with links to the presentations of the event.
The draft version of the meeting report can be download here. Final version to be available in September.
The session was based on the following Biodiversity Protection Community Marine litter related products:
- Report: Ecosystem-based approaches to managing transboundary and cumulative impacts in the Mediterranean
- Database, MedBioLitter: Mediterranean marine litter and biodiversity interactions database (Feb 2019)
- Policy report: Tackling Marine Litter in the Mediterranean – Knowledge and Tools
- Factsheet: Tackling Marine Litter in the Mediterranean – Knowledge and Tools
- Factsheet: Marine Litter and Biodiversity interactions in the Mediterranean Sea