A new initiative, adopted by COP 22, will help promote MPAs as an effective tool for biodiversity conservation and management
The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted at their 22nd meeting (COP 22, Antalya, Turkey, 7-10 December 2021) the SPAMI Day concept, a yearly celebration to be held every 15 April.
The List of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI List) has been established, in 2001, under the Barcelona Convention, and, more specifically, under its Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean (SPA/BD Protocol).
The Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs) included in the List are proposed by the concerned Contracting Parties, in recognition of their ecological, scientific, aesthetic, cultural or educational interest. SPAMIs are intended to have a value of example and model for the protection of the natural heritage of the region.
The SPAMI Day concept has been developed to raise awareness on SPAMIs and marine and coastal protected areas in particular, and on Mediterranean marine and coastal ecosystem conservation and sustainable natural resource management, in general.
The first edition of the SPAMI Day is expected to be celebrateted in 2022, at a crucial moment when Barcelona Convention Contracting Parties have also adopted, at COP 22, the Post-2020 SAPBIO and committed to the ambitious 30 by 30 targets on marine and coastal protected areas, thus placing the Mediterranean region in frontline of this major global and national effort.
Photo: © IISD