On 18 November, the Interreg Med MBPC in cooperation with the Pelagos Permanent Secretariat organised an online technical workshop entitled: Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community (MBPC) In Action : Supporting Cetacean Conservation In The Pelagos Sanctuary
This workshop was organised in the frame of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in December 2021 between the Pelagos Agreement and MBPC, as well as AMAre, FISHMPABLUE2 PLUS, MPA NETWORKS and PLASTIC BUSTERS MPAs projects to promote and facilitate technical and scientific transboundary cooperation.
The projects presented tools developed and activities carried out within the Pelagos Sanctuary that can contribute to meet the Pelagos Agreement’s conservation objectives were:
- MBPC and Blue Growth community projects
- Guidelines for the sustainability of cruising and recreational boating in the Mediterranean region
- MBP Knowledge Platform and WESR/MapX
- SAIS-EBSA Governance framework
- MPA NETWORKS – key results
- AMARE PLUS – geoportal
On this occasion, Céline Dubreuil, Director of Programmes at Plan Bleu, presented the Guidelines for the sustainability of cruising and recreational boating in the Mediterranean regionfocusing on the “high impact actions” identified by the stakeholders that were involved in its elaboration to support the Pelagos Sanctuary conservation objectives. Antoine Lafitte, Head of the Environment and Sustainable Development Observatory at Plan Bleu, presented the Plan Bleu’s Mediterranean Observatory on Environment and Sustainable Development and its cartographic component MapXhighlighting the regional scale collaboration between ETC-UMA and Plan Bleu within the MBPC project and in support of the Pelagos Sanctuary. Layers from the MBP Knowledge Platform have been mirrored from ETC-UMA geoserver to MapX, illustrating how data sharing and interoperability of data between institutions can work in support of biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean.
The discussion included the results of a collaboration between MBPC partners and other institutions around the Pelagos Sanctuary, such as ISPRA, which led to the production of a factsheet entitled: Pathways To Coexistence Between Large Cetaceans And Maritime Transport In The North-Western Mediterranean Region : Collision risk between ships and whales within the proposed north-western Mediterranean Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), including the Pelagos Sanctuary.
Methods, results and lessons learned were discussed with the objective of developing further cooperative efforts to support the implementation of the Pelagos Agreement Management and Action Plan, 2022- 2027 and its Work Plan 2022-2023. The workshop was open to all interested stakeholders, including the Pelagos Agreement National Focal Points, Chair and members of the Technical Scientific Committee and the Working Groups.
Interested in knowing more about the MBPC project and the Pelagos Sanctuary? Head to the following links:
