Funded by the European Union, the regional IMAP-MPA project concluded in August 2023 after 48 months of activities aimed at “Achieving the Good Environmental Status of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast through an Ecologically Representative, Efficiently Managed and Monitored Network of Marine Protected Areas”. The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) and its Regional Activity Centre specializing in biodiversity and conservation (SPA/RAC) implemented the project in seven beneficiary countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia).
The IMAP-MPA final stocktaking event took place on 11-13 July 2023 in Tangiers, Morocco, where the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development in Morocco hosted a collective reflection with the project’s implementing partners on the results achieved and the legacy. Ms. Nassira Rheyati, representing the Ministry, commended the support provided to the beneficiary countries in meeting their obligations under the Barcelona Convention and its SPA/BD Protocol.
The IMAP/MPA project delivered 3 key results:
- Two new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Algeria and Libya
Libya and Algeria declared two new marine protected areas, in 2022 and 2023 respectively: the Shash marine protected area in the Gulf of Sirte and the Rachgoun island area. The creation of both MPAs can be attributed to the support that the IMAP-MPA project provided to national institutions in both countries, notably in the form of assessment studies, management plans and expertise brought by SPA/RAC (based on experience with similar MPA designation exercises around the Mediterranean).
Another related achievement of the project is the strengthening of collaboration frameworks bringing together conservation actors and local stakeholders, including fishers and community members, in existing MPAs such as Jbel Moussa in Morocco and the Kerkennah Islands in Tunisia. In promoting engagement with stakeholders, the project applied a gender-sensitive approach, identifying gaps and specific needs to ensure the sustainability of protection measures within MPAs while leaving no one behind.
IMAP-MPA also provided opportunities for advanced collaboration with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency on the development of an inclusive National Strategy for Marine and Coastal Protected Areas along the Mediterranean Egyptian coast.
- Honed monitoring tools to advance biodiversity protection
The IMAP-MPA project provided support to national institutions in the assessment of Good Environmental Status of the Mediterranean Sea and its coasts with a focus on “Biodiversity and Non-Indigenous Species (NIS)”, “Pollution and Marine Litter”, and “Coast and Hydrography”. The three thematic clusters were identified as part of the regionally harmonized Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) adopted by the Contracting Parties in 2016. The project also supported the preparation of a scientific paper capturing the efforts and findings of 20 experts who went about identifying regional and sub-regional baselines for NIS.
One of the dividends of the project’s contributions in this field is that six beneficiary countries ( Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) have started or completed reporting biodiversity-related data into the IMAP Info System, an online platform developed by INFO/RAC.
These efforts have fed into the preparation of the 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report, an authoritative regional assessment conducted by UNEP/MAP and mandated by the Contracting Parties that will be submitted to COP 23 of the Barcelona Convention (5-8 December 2023, Portoroz, Slovenia) for adoption.
- Higher ambition and renewed EU support
Mr. Jean-Christophe Filori, Cooperation Officer at the European Union Delegation to Morocco, who attended the stocktaking event in Tangiers, announced a follow-up to the IMAP-MPA project with fresh European Union funding of 4 million Euro for four years, starting in August 2023. The new EU-funded project titled “Bolstering Mediterranean biodiversity and Marine and Coastal Protected Areas for nature (SEMPA)", is implemented by UNEP/MAP and SPA/RAC in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Building on IMAP-MPA’s achievements, SEMPA will notably support the implementation of two regional strategies adopted by the Contracting Parties (under the SPA/BD Protocol to the Barcelona Convention), namely the Post-2020 SAPBIO and the Regional Strategy for MCPAs and OECMs, which will take the region closer to reaching the globally negotiated targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. SEMPA will also strengthen gender mainstreaming and the empowerment of women within UNEP/MAP-led activities, in line with the Medium-Term Strategy (2022-2027) and the Antalya Ministerial Declaration.
In addition to SEMPA, The EU-funded project portfolio also includes the follow-up phases of the EcAp MED III and Marine Litter MED II projects. The trio will run until mid-2027, further boosting the implementation of Good Environmental Status based on the findings of the 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report.
