The Strategic Action Programme for the conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Mediterranean Region, referred to in the relevant decisions of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity (SPA/BD) Protocol as “The Post-2020 SAPBIO”, is the Mediterranean region’s blueprint for the protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity. Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP 22) held in Antalya, Türkiye, on 7-10 December 2021, the Post-2020 SAPBIO (or SAPBIO, the shorter version of the acronym) was developed by SPA/RAC, the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre specializing in marine and coastal biodiversity protection and conservation, in consultation with the Mediterranean countries and relevant regional and international partners.
Although it was crafted ahead of the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the SAPBIO was molded in the spirit of the GBF-in-the-making. Here are three ways in which the regional SAPBIO contributes to translating the global GBF into concrete gains for biodiversity and nature in the Mediterranean Sea and coast.
- Alignment with the GBF is ingrained in the fabric of the SAPBIO
From the outset and as global negotiations advanced, the process of SAPBIO development actively pursued alignment with the building blocks and aims of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This alignment was driven by a decision of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its SPA/BD Protocol, requesting that the SAPBIO be harmonized with the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (then still under negotiation) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ample evidence of this alignment is found in the vision that the SAPBIO encompasses: “By 2050, marine and coastal biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy Mediterranean Sea and coast, and delivering benefits essential for all people”. This vision statement demonstrates that the SAPBIO is, in fact, the regional translation of the GBF. Implementation of the SAPBIO by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention at the Mediterranean basin level will therefore contribute to meeting their obligations at the global level under the GBF.
- The SAPBIO is grounded in science and underpinned by a robust legal platform
Evidence of biodiversity and nature loss affecting the Mediterranean Sea and coast is collated in several reports produced by UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centres and partners, including MedECC (which produced the first Mediterranean Assessment Report on Climate and Environmental Change—MAR 1). Data on biodiversity is collected in the context of monitoring and assessment activities undertaken by UNEP/MAP, including those carried out in the context of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) adopted by the Contracting Parties in 2016.
The SAPBIO development built on this knowledge base and culminated in the identification of a set of high-priority actions to halt and reverse the observed degradation of biological diversity in the Mediterranean Sea and coast. In packaging these actions, the SAPBIO also considered existing commitments under the SPA/BD Protocol to the Barcelona Convention—the Mediterranean region’s principal legally-binding instrument on marine and coastal biodiversity protection.
- Context is everything: the SAPBIO captures the region’s specificities
The SAPBIO development process assimilated the natural, social, economic, and institutional specificities of the Mediterranean region. The participatory approach used in weaving the SAPBIO was key. National authorities, regional institutions and non-State actors shared views and provided insights into which actions are needed and would work best considering a variety of national and sub-regional contexts. This exercise provided a solid basis for prioritization: the SAPBIO constitutes, in essence, a shortlist of actions that would maximize return on investment and yield the greatest benefits in terms of biodiversity protection and conservation. In defining those actions, the SAPBIO also sought to unlock synergies through cooperation among actors and stakeholders.
Integration of the regional context and synergies constitute the ingredients that make the SAPBIO the realistic and doable blueprint that the region can use to fulfill commitments under the SPA/BD Protocol to the Barcelona Convention while also meeting the countries’ obligations under the GBF.
A resource mobilization strategy to assist the Contracting Parties in the implementation of the SAPBIO led to the development of a four-project portfolio presented to potential donors at a conference held in Paris, France, on 16 March 2023. This effort is aimed at supporting the full and timely implementation of the SAPBIO by 2030.
Learn more:
- From agreement to action: The road ahead for the Global Biodiversity Framework
- Scientists gather in Italy to bolster knowledge of Mediterranean marine and coastal biodiversity
- The Mediterranean Corner at the COP 15 Biodiversity Conference
- How SPAMIs help build a shared future for all life in the Mediterranean
