The MPA NETWORKS initiative will be financed 85% by the Interreg MED program and coordinated by MedPAN.
- The project brings together 10 Mediterranean partners, mainly Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) management organizations from 7 countries: Albania, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and France.
- It will be executed between November 2019 and June 2022. Its budget is € 2,664,000.
- The Marilles Foundation will carry out actions worth € 230,000, of which it will have to contribute € 34,500.
The objective of the project is to contribute to the effective management of the MPAs of the Mediterranean by proposing solutions in effective management, small-scale fisheries management, conservation of mobile species and sustainable financing.
The proposed actions will focus on strengthening network work, sharing information and analyzing the experience on the ground in the different MPAs to design proposals to improve the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas. Recommendations arising from this project will be aimed at supporting policy improvements at the international, European and national levels.
Networking will facilitate exchanges between MPA managers and other actors, the capitalization of good practices and increased knowledge.
Marilles responsibilities will involve connecting the results obtained in Spain by the Fundacion Biodiversidad in the Life Intemares Project with project partners, and will carry a pilot project on economic valuation of an MPA in the Balearics region.
A collaborative effort
The Mediterranean Protected Areas Network (MedPAN) association was created in 2008 with the aim to strengthen MPAs in the Mediterranean. It includes 63 member organizations and 51 associates from 20 countries.
Its extensive experience makes it an ideal candidate to coordinate a project that brings together seven MPAs, Portofino, Torre del Cerrano, Guaceto Tower, Brijuni National Park, Port-Cros National Park, Zakynthos Marine National Park, Strunjan Landscape Park, as well as the Institute of Nature Conservation of Albania INCA in addition to Marilles Foundation.
Context
Despite the increase in MPAs area in the Mediterranean, the objective of maintaining marine biodiversity is far from being met. MPAs face many challenges and have multiple shortcomings in the provision of legal instruments and financial resources, which condition the availability of technical and human resources. The Balearics is not an exception.
The project will allow new pilot projects to be initiated and will organize the transfer of tools and recommendations from previous projects to improve marine conservation. Networks of MPA managers will be developed and reinforced both nationally and across the Mediterranean basin. Marilles has been advancing this in the Balearic for the past two years.
What is Interreg MED?
The Interreg MED program is an EU funded programme that brings together 13 European countries from the northern Mediterranean coast to work towards sustainable growth in the region. The program supports projects that promote a reasonable use of natural resources, innovative practices and social integration. Only 13 of the 116 proposals submitted in this third call for projects of the Interreg MED program have been selected.
The MPA Networks (Marine Protected Areas Working in Network) initiative presented by MedPAN is one of these proposals, and the Marilles Foundation will make the most of it over the next 32 months to deliver for the Balearic MPAs and beyond.
