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A new project implemented by the Mediterranean Action Plan of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) and funded by the European Union went underway in March 2020 with the two-pronged aim of strengthening national capabilities in integrated monitoring of the Mediterranean Sea and coast and enhancing the management of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean region.

Women at the helm of green entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean Under the auspices of UNEP/MAP, the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted in 2016 a Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan for the Mediterranean region.The UNEP/MAP’s Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) provides support to Contracting Parties in its implementation, including through the Switchmed programme.

UNEP/MAP was instrumental in the introduction of a ban on single-use plastic bags in Tunisia. The ban, which entered into force on 1 March 2020 for supermarkets by virtue of Decree No. 32 dated 16 January 2020, prohibits the manufacturing, import and use of conventional single-use plastic bags. Compostable and reusable plastic bags will still be allowed in the market as an alternative, provided that they bear a specific marking. A comprehensive ban will be extended to all producers and suppliers of plastic bags by 1 January 2021.

World Wildlife Day (3 March) is an opportunity to beat the drum for the fauna and flora of the Mediterranean because they deserve all the attention that they can get. Unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of natural resources have taken a hefty toll on biodiversity in Mare Nostrum.

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) received the Excellence in the Mediterranean Award, conferred by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), in recognition of commitment to the protection of the marine and coastal environment and to sustainable development in the region. UNEP/MAP—Barcelona Convention Secretariat Coordinator Gaetano Leone received the award on 21 February 2020 during a ceremony held in the context of the 14th Plenary Session of PAM.

On 21-23 January 2020 the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) joined forces with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), the Italian Oceanographic Commission, the European Commission and the Mediterranean Science Commission to hold a workshop dedicated to the Mediterranean Sea and Coast in the context of preparations for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).