Content1- IUCN-Med receives award for global

conservation achievements

2- Renewed support for IUCN activities in the Mediterranean

3- Mediterranean Cooperation featured at Congress

4- New priorities for action in the IUCN Programme of Work 2009-2012 and the motion agenda for the region

5- International organisations agree to coordinate work for marine species conservation based on science

6- Maritime traffic effects on Mediterranean biodiversity

7- Reinforced partnerships for mountain protection

8- Climate change and adaptation of Mediterranean forests

9- Marine protected areas in urgent need of balance

10- Welcome to new members in the Mediterranean

11- A Snapshot to Mediterranean Biodiversity Facts

12- In the press

13- Staff changes

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IUCN-Med receives award for global conservation achievements

The Andalusian regional

government has presented a

prize to the IUCN Centre for

Mediterranean Cooperation

in Malaga for its nature

conservation efforts at

global level. Ms Cinta

Castillo, regional minister of

environment, attended the

XIII Edition of the Andalusia

Awards for the Environment held on 26 September

in Aracena (Huelva), to acknowledge the work

done by various people, organisations and social

groups towards sustainable development and the

preservation of ecological values.

Margarita Astrálaga, Director of IUCN-Med,

declared “The support of Andalucia has been crucial

in the success of our work and it is an example

to follow by many countries in many conservation

aspects. I feel very proud to receive this award on

behalf of all my colleagues at the Cooperation Centre

and of the IUCN members in the Mediterranean,

which have made possible our successes.”

Link: Full story in Spanish, IUCN Members in the Mediterranean

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Mediterranean FlashnewsNovember 2008 - No. 29

Centre for Mediterranean Cooperationwww.iucn.org/mediterranean

Mediterranean Cooperation featured at Congress The Ministries of Environment of Tunisia and Egypt, the Consejeria de Medio Ambiente of the Junta de Andalucia and the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation in Lebanon highlighted and shared with other Mediterranean members and donors many of the cooperation achievements in the region since Bangkok, and proposed some key areas of work for the future during the sesion organized by the Spanish Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs. This event was designed to help identify how through increased cooperation, countries in the Mediterranean region ensure the fulfilment of their commitments to International and Regional Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (specifically CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD and the Barcelona Convention…) and ensure a sustainable future of the region.

More info: margarita.astralaga@iucn.orgLink: Junta de Andalucía, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural

y Marino de España, North Africa Programme

Renewed support for IUCN activities in the Mediterranean The Spanish Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs together with the Regional Government of Andalucia announced on 8 October their firm commitment to provide long term funding support to the activities of IUCN-Med, during the IUCN-Med gathering kindly hosted by the Barcelona Zoo.

The presentation of the “Mediterranean Mosaic”, a publication in the three IUCN official languages sponsored by Diputación de Málaga and specially prepared to commemorate the first 8 years of activity of the Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the 60th anniversary of IUCN, provided the ideal opportunity for all IUCN members and partners interested in the region to get together and expand their collaboration links, in the framework of the World Conservation Congress held in Barcelona. The city mayor took the Congress opportunity to sign the Countdown 2010 initiative and also expressed their wish to strengthen links with the Mediterranean programme and its networks.

More info: margarita.astralaga@iucn.org

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New priorities for action in the IUCN Programme of Work 2009-2012 and the motion agenda for the region More than 12 different proposals by IUCN members in the Mediterranean have been voted and adopted during the Members’ Assembly that took place in Barcelona, as well as IUCN’s programme of work 2009-2012. These resolutions and recomendations together with the programme of work, set the agenda for action during the next 4 years to come in terms of priorities in nature conservation and sustainable development actions by the IUCN Secretariat and its constituency.

More info: rami.salman@iucn.orgLink: IUCN motions, IUCN-Med programme,

IUCN Programme 2009-2012

International organisations agree to coordinate work for marine habitats and species conservation based on science Main international organisations active in marine conservation in the region have discussed and agreed to improve coordination and collaboration for the sake of marine biodiversity. The Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC-SPA) of the Mediterranean Action Plan, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS), the Mediterranean Marine Protected Area Managers Network (MedPAN), WWF, and IUCN with its Commissions have joined forces to complement their efforts and maximise the results of the actions implemented.

The presentation of the Med-RAS project: “Identifying Priority Representative Areas and Species in the Mediterranean Sea to Conserve” took place in Barcelona. A collaborative 2-year initiative to bring together habitat, species and seascape data to identify conservation priorities, it has set the path for a science-led project in partnership and for the benefit of the whole Mediterranean.

More info: dania.abdulmalak@iucn.orgLink: RAC-SPA, ACCOBAMS, WWF, MedPAN, IUCN WCPA

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Maritime traffic effects on Mediterranean biodiversityAs a result of the implementation of Bangkok resolution 3.070 Environmental protection of the Mediterranean Sea from the risk of maritime traffic, IUCN-Med launched during the World Conservation Congress the two volumes just published analysing the overview of the impacts caused by this activity in the Mediterranean Basin and the legal tools available to protect marine biodiversity from maritime traffic. Several meetings have taken place and studies were implemented by the centre in answer to the resolution. This book has been supported by the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea.

Link: Bangkok resolutionsBook: Maritime traffic effects on biodiversity in the Mediterranean

Sea - Volume 1 - Review of impacts, priority areas and mitigation measures

More info: ameer.abdulla@iucn.org

Book: Maritime traffic effects on biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea - Volume 2 - Legal mechanisms to address maritime impacts on Mediterranean biodiversity

More info: francois.simard@iucn.org

Reinforced partnerships for mountain protectionThe Mediterranean region is the second most important Biodiversity Hotspot in the world in terms of endemic plant species (13,000 species). The geological diversity and the frequent isolation of mountains all contribute to the high diversity of the Mediterranean mountain flora. Almost all centres of plant diversity and endemism in the Mediterranean region are continental and island high-mountain areas.

The new publication “Mediterranean Mountains in a Changing World” presented during the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, responds to the resolution 3.039 The Mediterranean Mountain Partnership, approved in the 2004 Bangkok Congress. It gathers regional experts’ recommendations to develop national and - where appropriate - trans-national plans of action, for each of the major mountain ranges of the Mediterranean basin for the conservation and improved status of their richness in biological, landscape and cultural diversity. This book has been made possible thank to the support of the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea.

More info: pedro.regato@iucn.orgLink: Bangkok resolutionsBook: Mediterranean Mountains in a Changing World - Guidelines for developing action plans

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Climate change and adaptation of Mediterranean forestsThe new publication “Adapting to Global Change - Mediterranean Forests”, supported by AECID and presented during the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, highlights how current alterations in land use and climate change are causing the alarming rise in frequency, intensity and extent of major disturbances, like forest fires, with devastating consequences in terms of species extinction, forest degradation and the loss of environmental services and people’s livelihoods. This publication gathers regional experts’ recommendations to increase ecological and social resilience to modify, to stop and reverse maladaptive practices, and adapt to climate change.

More info: pedro.regato@iucn.orgBook: Adapting to Global Change - Mediterranean Forests

Marine protected areas in urgent need of balanceOnly 3.8% of the Mediterranean Sea is under some kind of protection or management. This study on the status of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas is the result of a collaborative initiative by IUCN, WWF and MedPAN - the network of managers of marine protected areas of the Mediterranean - and was supported by RAC/SPA and approximately one hundred MPA practitioners and management agencies. Results have shown the gaps in the current system and the challenges related to management capacity which urgently needs action from all sides of this Mare Nostrum. Except for the Pelagos Sanctuary, 98.9% of the marine areas currently under some type of protection or management are coastal. Moreover, 73% are located along the basin’s northern shore, highlighting the lack of MPAs in the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean.

More info: marina.gomei@iucn.org, alain.jeudy@iucn.orgBook: Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea

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A Snapshot to Mediterranean Biodiversity FactsIUCN-Med has just published an overview on the conservation status of the Mediterranean biodiversity and a series of facts sheets on main biodiversity data affecting the Mediterranean region. These refer to amphibians, reptiles, endemic freshwater fish, sharks, cetaceans, island plants, marine biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development of aquaculture.

A new IUCN project to evaluate the conservation status of vascular plants in the Mediterranean is also starting with assessments of national endemics.

Link: Fact Sheets, Mediterranean biodiversity: a hotspot under threat

Welcome to new members in the MediterraneanAt the 70th meeting of the IUCN Council, 48 new members were admitted of which the following are based in Mediterranean countries:

Croatia• Croatian Herpetological Society (HHD-Hyla)

France• Fédération des Clubs Connaître et Protéger la Nature• Observatoire Départemental de la Biodiversité Urbaine

(ODBU).

Lebanon• Association for Forest Development and Conservation

(AFDC)

Spain• Ayuntamiento de Málaga• Fundación para la Conservación y Recuperación de Animales Marinos (CRAM)

More info: arantxa.cendoya@iucn.orgLink: IUCN membership database, IUCN Members in the Mediterranean

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In the pressA selection of stories, news and interviews published during the World Conservation Congress by the Spanish press.

• Cooperation in the Mediterranean (webmurcia.com, 08/10/08)

• El decálogo de la Naturaleza (La Vanguardia, 14/10/08)

• Las 12 plagas del cambio climático (El Mundo, 08/10/08)

• Futuro Sombrío para los Mamíferos (ABC, 07/10/08)

• Los peces, nuevo botín de los piratas (La Vanguardia, 05/08/08)

• El príncipe insta a proteger el medio ambiente

(La Razón, 06/08/08)

• La crisis económica es una oportunidad para mejorar la naturaleza

(Entrevista con Margarita Astrálaga)

• El Héroe del Planeta (Entrevista con Rusell Mittermeier)

Send interesting press articles about the Mediterranean published in your country to:sonsoles.sanroman@iucn.org

Staff changesArantxa Cendoya takes over as Membership Assistant. Alain Jeudy de Grissac is the new Marine Conservation Programme Manager; Melanie Bilz is working on the Mediterranean Red List vascular plant assessments from Cambridge; and Sarah Gotheil, seconded from HQ, has joined us to work on Aquaculture and Fisheries while Sandra Simoes is on maternity leave.

And farewell to Nieves García, who has been helping us with the Med species conservation programme, and to Isabel Moyano, translation and membership assistant, who will be leaving at the end of November.

Link: Who is Who at IUCN-Med

Alain Jeudy de Grissac

Melanie Bilz Sarah Gotheil

Nieves García

Isabel Moyano

Core support to the activities of the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation is provided by:

INTERNATIONAL UNIONFOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

IUCN CENTRE FOR MEDITERRANEAN COOPERATIONParque Tecnológico de AndalucíaC. / Marie Curie, 35 (Sede Social)29590 - Malaga (Spain)Tel 34 - 952 02 84 30Fax 34 - 952 02 81 45uicnmed@iucn.orgwww.iucn.org/mediterranean www.uicnmed.org

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Arantxa Cendoya