@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{Rodríguez-Rodríguez2022,

title = {An assessment of marine biodiversity protection in the Mediterranean Sea: A threatened global biodiversity hotspot},

author = {D. Rodríguez-Rodríguez and D. Abdul-Malak},

url = {https://panaceaweb.adabyron.uma.es/wp-content/uploads/An_assessment_of_marine_biodiversity_protection_in_the_Mediterranean_Sea.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-11-01},

urldate = {2022-11-01},

abstract = {The Mediterranean Sea is a World’s biodiversity hotspot. It harbours around 11% of all marine species in less than 1% of the global marine area (Bianchi & Morri, 2000). Furthermore, around 20% of those species are endemic (Coll et al., 2010). Nevertheless, Mediterranean  marine biodiversity is under threat by a number of pressures including overfishing, pollution, introduction of alien invasive species, coastaldevelopment and rising water temperature and acidity.



Efforts to conserve the Mediterranean environment have been going on for years, notably since the adoption of the Barcelona Convention against marine pollution in 1976 and its expanded version to cover the protection of the broader marine and coastal environment in 1995. Moreover, the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the related Habitats Directive in the European Union in 1992 additionally supported conservation actions in the region, especially in the European Union side of the Mediterranean.



As a result of those efforts, an increasing number of marine protected areas (MPAs) have been designated across the Mediterranean Sea

representing over 9.5% of the Mediterranean Sea, but mainly in the North-Western Mediterranean (Gomei et al., 2019). When addressing managerial effort, this percentage drops dramatically, with 1.27% of the Mediterranean sea being covered by MPAs that effectively implemented their management plans in 2018 (Gomei et al., 2019). New international protection coverage targets are likely to include 30% of marine and coastal areas being effectively protected by networks of MPAs or Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) by 2030 (CBD, 2021). Additional protection targets by the European Union require that 10% of important areas for biodiversity are designated under legally stringent no-take (M)PAs by 2030, which may further broaden the long-lasting North-South marine protection gap in the Mediterranean (Adbulla et al., 2008).},

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

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{Abdul-Malak2021,

title = {Carbon pools and sequestration potential of wetlands in the European Union},

author = {D. Abdul-Malak and A. I. Marín and M. Trombetti and S. San-Román},

editor = {European Topic Centre on Urban, Land and Soil Systems},

url = {https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-uls/products/etc-uls-reports/etc-uls-report-10-2021-carbon-pools-and-sequestration-potential-of-wetlands-in-the-european-union},

isbn = {978-3-200-07433-0},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

urldate = {2021-09-01},

abstract = {Wetland ecosystems as defined by the Ramsar convention host a wide variety of wetland habitats across terrestrial, coastal and marine environments. When in good condition, wetland habitats provide many societal benefits and values, among others, they play a crucial role in the carbon cycle because of their capacities to limit the availability of oxygen to soil microbes and decomposition of organic matter. Policies and practices do not sufficiently consider these interconnections and interdependencies in Europe yet due to the fragmented consideration of this ecosystem in their schemes. The findings of this report argue that healthy European wetland habitats have an enormous capacity to contribute to carbon neutrality objectives in Europe. Across the wide array of European ecosystems they belong to, wetland habitats have a role in contributing to the carbon cycle. The most meaningful European wetland habitats to contribute to carbon storage include well-functioning salt marshes, healthy mires, bogs and fens as well as riparian, fluvial and swamp forests. Furthermore, when healthy, terrestrial wetlands namely mires, bogs and fens (where peatlands underly), followed by riparian, fluvial and swamp forests as well as inland marshes ensure a high carbon sequestration potential. If kept in a good condition or restored, the EU wetland related carbon stock capacity of their overall area in Europe (EU 27 and the UK) is estimated to be between 12 - 31 Gt CO2-eq, corresponding to an overall value ranging between 3 and 8 years of EU GHG emissions1. Whereas the Carbon sequestration potential of healthy EU Wetlands per year is calculated to range between 24 and 144 Mt CO2 eq yr-1 (24,352 and 14,3719 kt CO2 eq yr-1), being a quantity that contributes to “neutralising” between 1 and 4 % of the total GHG emissions registered in the EU27 and the UK (according to 2018 reference year for reported emission). These findings should trigger wetland conservation and restoration to become a high priority for the EU to support reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Climate reporting systems require Parties to report on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases which includes reporting heavily modified peatland habitats only partially and dominantly as a net carbon emitter. Using ecosystem-based approaches to managing reported peatland habitats and re-establishing their ecosystem functioning do transform many of them from climate ‘heaters’ (carbon net sources) into climate ‘coolers’ (carbon net sinks).},

keywords = {Climate Change, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Land and soil, Soil functions, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Maes2021,

title = {EU ecosystem assessment - Summary for policymakers},

author = {J. Maes and M. Erhard and S. Conde and S. Rodriguez-Vallecillo and J.I. Barredo-Cano and M. Paracchini and D. Abdul-Malak and M. Trombetti and O. Vigiak and G. Zulian and A. Addamo and B. Grizzetti and F. Somma and A. Hagyo and P. Vogt and C. Polce and A. Jones and A. Carré and R. Hauser

},

editor = {Publications Office of the European Union},

url = {https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC123783},

doi = {10.2760/190829},

issn = {1831-9424},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

institution = {Joint Research Center (JRC)},

abstract = {Europe’s ecosystems, on which we depend for food, timber, clean air, clean water, climate regulation and recreation, suffer from unrelenting pressures caused by intensive land or sea use, climate change, pollution, overexploitation and invasive alien species. Ensuring that ecosystems achieve or maintain a healthy state or a good condition is thus a key requirement to secure the sustainability of human activities and human well-being. This guiding principle applies for all ecosystems including marine and freshwater ecosystems, natural and semi-natural areas such as wetlands or heathlands but also managed ecosystems such as forests, farmlands and urban green spaces. Knowledge about ecosystem condition, the factors that improve or decline that condition, and the impacts on ecosystem services, with the benefits they deliver to people, is key to effective management, decision-making and policy design. Such an understanding helps target actions for conservation or restoration and more broadly sustainable use. This ecosystem assessment extends and complements the knowledge we have about the state and trends of ecosystems reported under the EU environmental legislation. The conservation of habitats and species as well as the environmental ambitions on freshwater and marine ecosystems have a well-defined thematic and geographical scope. This assessment goes beyond covering the entire terrestrial and marine territory of the EU and in many cases provides more spatially explicit information. Ecosystems inside and outside protected areas such as coastal and inland wetlands and forests contribute to the wellbeing of people through ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are often heavily impacted and bringing these systems back in a good condition is a key objective for a more sustainable planet. But also human dominated ecosystems such as farmlands and urban green spaces are important providers of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services and can host remarkable levels of biodiversity that are at the basis of ecosystem services. These ecosystems should not be ignored when considering solutions to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Consequently, this assessment brings together for the first time EU wide and commonly agreed data sets that can be used to assess the state and trends of ecosystems and their services as well as the pressures and their trends they are exposed to. This is particularly important to understand where and how much ecosystems are degraded and threatened so as to guide priority and cost-effective restoration efforts.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Forest, Land and soil, Pressures, Protected areas, Wetlands},

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{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}

}