@techreport{Schröder2024,

title = {Mapping the Impact of Blue Tourism in the Mediterranean: Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems},

author = {C. Schröder and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and A. Teixidor and G. Costa and R. Galán and L. Prieto and G. Balestracci and M.A. Kuhn and P. Marín and A. Martín and C. Numa and A. Sciacca},

url = {https://www.etc.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/Mapping-the-Impact-of-Blue-Tourism-in-the-Mediterranean-web.pdf},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-09-03},

abstract = {The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation with the support of ETC-UMA in the framework of the Blue Tourism Initiative, has released a comprehensive report entitled “Mapping the Impact of Blue Tourism in the Mediterranean: Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems.” This groundbreaking report reveals how tourism is affecting the Mediterranean’s coastal and marine ecosystems and provides actionable recommendations to promote sustainable blue tourism practices.



The spatial assessment identifies highly vulnerable regions in the Mediterranean, focusing on cumulative tourism pressures and the lack of protected ecologically sensitive areas. Regions such as Cádiz and Malaga in Spain, Antalya and Hatay in Türkiye, Girona and Menorca, Annaba Province in Algeria, and Trieste Province in Italy face high tourism pressures and low protection levels. Even regions with relatively high protection levels still experience significant tourism pressures, while Eastern and Southern Mediterranean countries with low protection levels are extremely vulnerable.



Among its key findings and highlights, we can find the threats to Posidonia oceanica, a unique Mediterranean seagrass, which is under significant threat from leisure boat anchoring. This vital habitat, covering approximately 19,482 square kilometers, provides essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, coastal protection, and habitat provision. The report highlights the pressures from harmful fishing practices and anchoring, especially near major tourist centers. The analysis shows a seasonal increase in leisure boat traffic, with a notable rise in the post-pandemic period.



The report also addresses the threat of vessel collisions with whales in the Northwest Mediterranean. This area is critical for fin whales, hosting up to 70% of the Mediterranean population and significant feeding grounds. It also supports around 50% of the Mediterranean sperm whale population during the summer. The heavy maritime traffic, including goods shipping, passenger transport, and cruise tourism, significantly increases the risk of ship strikes.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Mediterranean sea, Pressures, Tourism, Transboundary management},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Fortuna2022,

title = {Pathways to coexistence between large cetaceans and maritime transport in the north-western Mediterranean region: Collision risk between ships and whales within the proposed north-western Mediterranean PSSA, including the Pelagos Sanctuary},

author = {C. Fortuna and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and D. Rodríguez-Rodríguez and D. Abdul-Malak and M. Podestà and S. Panigada},

url = {https://panaceaweb.adabyron.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/Pathways-to-coexistence-between-large-cetaceans-and-maritime-transport-in-the-north-western-Mediterranean-region.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-11-18},

urldate = {2022-11-18},

abstract = {This short report is the result of a collaborative effort among researchers from ISPRA in Italy and ETC-UMA in Spain supported by Mediterranean institutions partnering in the MBPC project. The level of maritime traffic and the intricacy of the network of shipping routes within the Pelagos Sanctuary and  the new proposed north western Mediterranean Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA is an area that needs special protection through action by International Maritime Organization (IMO) because of its significance for recognized ecological or socio-economic or scientific reasons and which may be vulnerable to damage by international maritime activities) has an impact on fin whales, particularly in spring and summer when they can be found in the region to feed. Many of these shipping routes also cross several marine protected areas (MPAs), including large Nature 2000 sites.  To assist in the identification of hotspot areas in the Pelagos Sanctuary and adjacent areas concerning key biodiversity and pressures, ETC-UMA produced several spatial data analysis, maps and informative interactive dashboards with Mediterranean-level data, which are now part of this report and other products now available through the MBPC Knowledge platform online, hosted and maintained by ETC-UMA.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Maritime transport, Mediterranean sea},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Trombetti2022,

title = {Mapping and assessment of the state of wetland ecosystems: A Mediterranean perspective},

author = {M. Trombetti and D. Abdul-Malak and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and A. Guelmami and N. García and E. Fitoka},

editor = {Interreg Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community project},

url = {https://www.etc.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/Report_Mapping_and_assessment_of_the_state_of_wetland_ecosystems_2022.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-06-01},

urldate = {2022-06-01},

abstract = {The Pan-Mediterranean wetland ecosystem map fills a major knowledge gap in the region by setting a Mediterranean-wide knowledge base on wetland ecosystems following the Ramsar definition of wetlands. The wetland ecosystem mapping is complemented by the assessment of wetland biodiversity conditions that aims to highlight priority areas for potential conservation and restoration actions in the region, and to support the regional efforts in advocating for effective wetland management and nature-based solutions in the Mediterranean region. The outputs of this activity include (i) a Pan-Mediterranean wetland ecosystem knowledge base, and (ii) an assessment of their condition that will be used to raise awareness and advocate for a change in wetland management that promotes effective protection, conservation and restoration. The outputs also support regional and national inventories, filling a major regional gap locating Mediterranean wetland habitats, and feed regional and global agendas, namely the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable development as well as the Ramsar Convention.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation and management, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Mediterranean sea, Protected areas, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Sánchez-Espinosa2022,

title = {Marine mega fauna and litter in the Mediterranean: Overview of impacts in MedBioLitter},

author = {A. Sánchez-Espinosa and D. Abdul-Malak and S. San-Román and A. Vera},

url = {https://www.etc.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/Marine_mega_fauna_litter_Mediterranean_March2022.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-04-01},

urldate = {2022-04-01},

abstract = {This report highlights the conclusions coming from the analysis of MedBiolitter spatial and scientific data on interactions between marine fauna and litter in the Mediterranean published in English as in v.8 updated in March 2022, integrated with marine litter data collected by ACCOBAMS in the frame of the Aerial Survey Initiative on cetaceans and marine litter. The analysis focuses on the impacts on marine megafauna (large mammals like cetaceans and seals, turtles, cartilaginous fishes like sharks and rays, and scombridae like tuna and swordfish). This publication follows the publication of the “Mediterranean biodiversity and marine litter: an interaction knowledge base” report in the frame of the Interreg Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection project published in 2019. },

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Marine litter, Marine protected areas, Mediterranean sea, Pressures, Protected areas},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{UNEP-MAP2020,

title = {SoED 2020 : State of Environment and Development in Mediterranean},

author = {UNEP-MAP and Plan-Bleu and D. Abdul-Malak and A. I. Marín and C. Schröder and A. Sánchez-Espinosa},

url = {https://planbleu.org/en/soed-2020-state-of-environment-and-development-in-mediterranean/},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-12-01},

abstract = {The SoED provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of environment and development interactions in the Mediterranean region. The 2020 version consists of eight thematic chapters and is complemented by two summary papers: Summary for Decision Makers and Key Messages. Topics covered include: socio-economic drivers and trends; climate change; biodiversity and ecosystem services; economic activities and related pressures; coastal dynamics and related impacts; food and water security; health and environment; and governance.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Mediterranean sea, Pressures, Protected areas},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Guitart2020,

title = {Mediterranean biodiversity and marine litter: an interaction knowledge base},

author = {C. Guitart and D. Abdul-Malak and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and C. Pérez Valverde and E. Bigagli and S. San-Román},

editor = {ETC-UMA},

url = {https://www.etc.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/PAN_report_Mediterranean-biodiversity-and-marine-litter_LowRes.pdf},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-01-10},

urldate = {2020-01-10},

abstract = {The Interreg-Med programme (2014-2020) has co-financed several initiatives that tackle the issue of marine litter. The Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community, co-financed by Interreg Med and featured by PANACeA, is one of these networks and aims at ensuring harmonized approaches to provide transferable evidence-based solutions on this growing challenge in the region. Part of the contribution of this Interreg Med community is to increase the evidence and the understanding of marine litter concerns and to reduce the pressures coming from marine litter as well as its impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems in the Mediterranean region.



The main areas of work of this community to date include the compilation of knowledge and available information on monitoring, measures and actions in marine protected areas (MPAs) and beyond, and to provide tools to support biodiversity protection and management to a wide range of stakeholders from local managers to regional policy makers in the Mediterranean region. An insight on projects tackling marine litter policy, management, pressures, impacts and best practices to combat litter in the marine and coastal environment is presented in Table 1. Five projects (out of 11 thematic projects within the Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community) have pursued marine litter pollution knowledge objectives. The knowledge generated by the Biodiversity Protection community has been synthesized here to offer coordinated knowledge and practice in the Mediterranean region and to contribute to both the Mediterranean and international marine litter reduction challenges.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Marine litter, Marine protected areas, Mediterranean sea, Pressures},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Gomei2019,

title = {Towards 2020: how Mediterranean countries are performing to protect their sea},

author = {M. Gomei and A. Abdulla and C. Schröder and S. Yadav and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and D. Rodríguez-Rodríguez and D. Abdul-Malak},

url = {https://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/towards2020_report_nov2019.pdf},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-11-01},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Mediterranean sea, Pressures, Protected areas},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}