Monaco marks the first edition of SPAMI Day, a Day of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance
Subject: A special regional event dedicated to Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI), designated under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), under the auspices of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
The event is organised by the Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre (SPA/RAC), a thematic centre under the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP), in partnership with the Permanent Secretariat of the Pelagos Agreement and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.
It will bring together managers of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs), and representatives of Mediterranean environment ministries, institutions involved in the management and governance of SPAMIs and marine and coastal protected areas in general and regional partners.
The Mediterranean currently has 39 SPAMIs on the "SPAMI List" established by the Barcelona Convention in the framework of its Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean (SPA/BD Protocol).
Date : 20 may 2022
Place : Oceanographic Museum of Monaco
The event will be broadcast live on the SPA/RAC YouTube channel
Themes :
The Day will focus on priority themes identified by SPAMI managers:
- Effective and sustainable management of SPAMIs, or how to strike a balance between ecosystem conservation and local development.
- Governance, where issues of participatory management and coordination between the administrations concerned by marine protected areas will be addressed.
- Capacity building, notably through SPAMI twinning programmes and exchanges of good practice between managers.
A roundtable on cooperation within the Pelagos Sanctuary (to date, the only transboundary SPAMI and also the SPAMI with the largest surface area) will also be organised. The aim is to discuss possible ways of collaboration between the Pelagos Sanctuary itself and the SPAMIs and marine protected areas (of France, Italy and Monaco) located in the Pelagos area.
In the afternoon, the high-level segment will be held under the auspices and with the participation of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Ms Zouhour Methamem, Cheffe de Cabinet, on behalf of Ms. Leila Chikhaoui Mehdaoui, Minister of Environment of Tunisia, as well as Ms Tatjana Hema, Mr Khalil Attia, Dr Mehmet Emin Birpinar (Deputy Minister of Environment of Turkey and President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention) and Ms Costanza Favilli will intervene in this session.
This high-level session will call for legal and institutional reforms that will improve governance within marine and coastal protected areas, institutionalize and encourage participatory management, provide more resources to MPAs and develop multilateral cooperation, particularly through exchange programmes between SPAMIs.
Read the detailed programme of the event
Note : The different sessions will take place in the plenary room of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. The working languages are French and English, with simultaneous translation available in the plenary room.
Background :
The institution of SPAMI Day, celebrated on 15 April each year, is an initiative of the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) and SPA/RAC, the Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre of UNEP/MAP, based in Tunisia.
SPAMI Day was adopted by the Contracting Parties (21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union) to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) at COP 22 (Antalya, Turkey, 7-10 December 2021).
The 2022 edition kicked off on 15 April with an online campaign led by SPA/RAC (#SPAMIday2022 and #ProtectMedDay). Celebrations will culminate with a special event to be held on 20 May 2022 in Monaco under the auspices and with the participation of H.S.H. Prince Albert II.
“The Mediterranean region now has an official day to cherish, celebrate and demand action for its magnificent, but vulnerable marine and coastal biodiversity. This shall be a day on which we come together to appreciate the SPAMIs as the embodiment of the conservation model that we want to see thrive and expand in the Mediterranean and beyond,“ said Tatjana Hema, the UNEP/MAP Coordinator. “I am deeply grateful to our partners in Monaco for hosting the special event that will make this first edition of SPAMI Day memorable,” she added.
Activities held to observe SPAMI Day will inform about conservation efforts undertaken within and beyond the SPAMIs. The observance will provide opportunities to amplify advocacy for safeguarding the health of marine and costal ecosystems through the effective implementation of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean, as well as related measures and action plans.
The first edition of the SPAMI Day comes at a crucial moment when the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted, at COP 22, the post-2020 SAPBIO and committed to achieve the ambitious targets of 30% protection by 2030 for marine and coastal protected areas, thus placing the Mediterranean region at the forefront of this major global and national effort.
The implementation of commitments by the Contracting Parties is crucial to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-14 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the Mediterranean.
“The SPAMI Day 2022 will celebrate the marine and coastal protected areas included in the Barcelona Convention’s SPAMI List, and will promote their role as a driver of cooperation in the conservation of natural areas and the protection of threatened species and habitats. It will also mark the kickoff point of the UN decade of Ecosystem restoration,” said Khalil Attia, SPA/RAC Director.
SPAMIs constitute pilot sites where ecosystem-based approaches can be undertaken in fields including marine and coastal habitats mapping and assessment, and climate change monitoring and mitigation. The aim is to harness their demonstrative effect to expand solutions and best practices at scale and halt the impacts of the triple crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution in the Mediterranean.
SPA/RAC is working on the establishment of a regional network of SPAMIs that will serve as a framework for experience- and resource-sharing among SPAMIs and Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs), notably through the existing SPAMI Twinning Programme.
The List of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI List) has been established in 2001 under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), 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 submitted by the concerned Contracting Parties, in recognition of their ecological, scientific, aesthetic, cultural or educational interest. SPAMIs are intended to be a showcase and a model for the protection of the region’s natural heritage. They are reviewed every 6 years, starting from the year of their inclusion in the List. The SPAMI provisions allow for the establishment of protected areas beyond national jurisdiction, and offer a framework of cooperation for the creation and management of transboundary MCPAs by neighboring countries.
For further information, please contact :
- Ms Nadège Massé, Director of Communications, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
- Ms Dorra Maaoui, Communications Assistant, SPA/RAC
- Mr Jihed Ghannem, Public Information Officer, UNEP/MAP-Secretariat of the Barcelona Convention