Coastal area

Coastal zones are an area of ​​convergence and competition which both links and separates, though vector of regional cooperation.. Integrated coastal zone management represents a governance tool for Mediterranean integration.

Plan Bleu’s activities, from years 2000 up to now

As an observatory for environment and development in the Mediterranean, coastal areas are subject to programs and activities:

• Plan Bleu’s participation in Coastal Area Management Programmes (CAMPs) has been undertaken in the framework of accreditation from the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and a bordering Mediterranean country. Plan Bleu’s contribution in CAMPs cover inputs of a systemic and prospective analysis, named ‘Imagine‘, for the development and sustainable management of Mediterranean coastal zones. In 2015, Plan Bleu participated with MedSea Foundation, in the development of a coastal risk index at the scale of CAMP Var (France).
• More recently, the ‘Imagine’ method has been upgraded in a way of its adaptation to the objectives of new projects where Plan Bleu is involved, namely Mediterranean forest ecosystems and adaptation to climate variability and change impacts in coastal zones.

An international agreement and a regional protocol for coastal zones

• On 24th March 2011 after the ratification of five countries and the European Union, an international agreement on the Mediterranean coast came into force in the form of a regional protocol on ICZM.
• This protocol is crucial in MAP’s history and enables countries to better manage their coastal zones by acquiring coastal policies to ensure a balance between environmental protection and economic development and adapt to emerging issues such as climate change.
• The European research project named PEGASO (2010-2014) allowed, through prospective studies and tools development (indicators, scenarios, economic evaluations), to support the implementation of the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean.

Next activities for mediterranean coastal regions

• Adaptation of the ‘Imagine’ method towards ‘Climagine’ in the frame of “Integration of climate variability and change into national ICZM strategies” project. It is an additional part of MedPartnership program, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the “Sustainable Med” program.
• Refinement of indicators’ calculation for sustainable development of coastal zones.
• New state of the art and prospective analysis (prospective analysis Med 2050, implementation of the MSSD for the period 2016-2025, …) about relationships between Development and Environment according to main regional issues already identified (North/South relationships, green and blue economy, water supply, food safety, sea level rise,…).
• The development of the coastal risk index for the whole areas of the Mediterranean boardering countries enables to identify hotspots in which further studies will be carried out, in particular in the whole area of the RAMOGE agreement.