Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI): providers of solutions to tackle the environmental crisis while strengthening regional solidarity
Monaco, 20 May 2022 - A regional event held to mark SPAMI Day, a new observance adopted under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) dedicated to Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI) and biodiversity protection, took place on 20 May 2022 in Monaco under the auspices of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
"The specially protected marine areas of the Mediterranean are finally receiving the attention they deserve," declared H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, noting that "it is more necessary than ever to develop MPAs in the Mediterranean, which must be a priority for all of us, because as we have seen today, the surface area currently protected is largely insufficient with regard to the challenges. This is particularly true for the highly protected areas, which today are notoriously too few in number and too small in size. Our objective is to achieve a proportion of 30% of the seas under protected status as quickly as possible by 2030. Our responsibility is to work towards this goal and to mobilise all stakeholders of the seas".
"What is this celebration bringing that is new? I would say a lot," observed Tatjana Hema, UNEP/MAP Coordinator. "The Mediterranean region now has an official day to cherish, celebrate, recognise and demand action on its magnificent, but vulnerable marine and coastal biodiversity. Since its entry into force in December 1999, the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean (SPA/BD Protocol) of the Barcelona Convention provides the regional legal framework for the conservation of biological diversity and the establishment and management of Specially Protected Areas (SPAs), including Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs)," she said.
The “SPAMI Day special event”, organized jointly by the UNEP/MAP Regional activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (SPA/RAC), the Pelagos Agreement Permanent Secretariat and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, included a high-level segment and served as a regional forum that contributed to strengthening collaboration and exchanges within the SPAMI network. SPAMI managers, who received award certificates acknowledging their contributions, and representatives of Mediterranean environment ministries, institutions involved in the management and governance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and regional organizations attended the event.
Participants discussed issues pertaining to governance, management effectiveness, and capacity-building, which constitute the building blocks of an effective and well managed network of marine and coastal protected areas in the Mediterranean.
Although they have a special status, marine protected areas included in the SPAMI List are not spared from pressures and environmental challenges inherent to their immediate context. Legal and institutional reforms are needed to ensure a better functioning of SPAMIs, and greater mobilization of human and financial resources.
The legal instruments, technical tools and opportunities for cooperation provided by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system can enable a coordinated regional response to address issues hindering the biodiversity conservation potential in the Mediterranean.
Mr. Khalil Attia, SPA/RAC Director said that « SPAMIs (established under the Barcelona Convention) are designed to play the role of model MPAs, serving as frameworks for regional, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, for sharing and exchanging good practices, and transferring sustainable solutions, between the different sub-regional contexts of the Mediterranean. ».
“The Pelagos Sanctuary, being a transboundary SPAMI, must be a reference example for marine protected areas and push towards the protection of biodiversity in the Mediterranean”, said Mr. Oliviero Montanaro, Chair of the Meeting of the Parties of the Pelagos Agreement.
Mr. Robert Calcagno, Chief Executive Officer of the Oceanographic Institute, Albert I, Prince of Monaco Foundation, noted that « the problems linked to the protection of the biodiversity of the Mediterranean are common to all the riparian countries. The answers must be inspired by everyone's initiatives; initiatives that have been successfully tested. ».
According to SPA/RAC, participatory management and co-management involving civil society organizations and other stakeholders should be further promoted along with the mutualisation of resources, integrated management planning and capacity-building.
SPA/RAC is advocating for MPAs to be construed as parts of a coherent system rather than a set of isolated entities.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The SPAMI Day 2022 special event was organized by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC in partnership with the Permanent Secretariat of the Pelagos Agreement and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco and the financial support of the European Union, MAVA foundation and the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition.
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.
SPAMIs have a demonstrative effect that can be harnessed to scale up solutions and best practices. An example of a cooperation project that has served this objective is the SPAMI twinning programme, financed within the framework of bilateral cooperation between UNEP/MAP and the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition (MiTE). Implemented in 2018-2019, the project benefited 8 SPAMIs and MPAs from Albania, Algeria, Italy, Slovenia and Tunisia, with exchanges activities and trainings on the monitoring and centralized planning of MPAs. The project also promoted small blue economy projects involving CSOs and supported co-management initiatives within SPAMIs and MPAs. The twinning program continues from this year for the same beneficiary countries within the framework of the bilateral cooperation between UNEP/MAP and MiTE. It is sustained thanks to funding from the European project ENSERES, also involving Spain and France.
For more information please contact:
Dorra Maaoui, Communications Assistant, SPA/RAC
Jihed Ghannem, Public Information Officer, UNEP/MAP
