The 4th meeting of the Mediterranean Platform of Environmental Journalists brought together journalists from main news agencies in the region for a field trip to the coastal wetlands of Oristano (Sardinia, Italy), an area which is expected to be submerged by the year 2100.

A media trip was organised on 25-27 October 2019 to the area of Oristano for the purpose of raising awareness about the situation of the Mediterranean wetlands and offering journalists a tangible example of the impacts of climate change in one the Mediterranean’s most vulnerable coastal areas. Twenty-one journalists participated in the media trip, representing 14 national news agencies and free-lance environmental and scientist editors from the region.

Twenty-one journalists participated in the media trip to the coastal wetlands of Oristano (Sardinia, Italy). Photo: © UICN-Med

During the event, the participants had the opportunity to get the latest information about wetlands and also to understand why they matter, particularly in limiting the impacts of climate change.

Nowadays, the Mediterranean is getting hotter. In the face of this threat, wetlands represent one of the ecosystems we need more than ever.

Specialists informing the Journalists by the latest information about wetlands and climate change in the Mediterranean. Photo: © UICN-Med

A new story for Mediterranean wetlands

The journalists were informed about the work developed by several organizations in recent years to build the resilience of these fragile ecosystems and to enhance the conservation of coastal wetlands in different countries. To carry out this work, it is important to:

• restoring damaged habitats ;
• encouraging sustainable water use ;
• reducing the impacts of water abstraction, pollution and coastal development in wetlands and related marine habitats.

These actions are taking place in four pilot sites, representative of different and complementary Mediterranean contexts:

• Oristano, Sardinia – coastal lagoons;
• Ghar el Melh, Tunisia – coastal lagoons and dune system;
• Ulcinj, Montenegro – salt pans ;
• Buna River, Albania – lower delta.

These pilot sites are supported by the “Off Your Map” campaign on coastal wetlands, funded by the MAVA Foundation and coordinated by the MedWet Initiative.

Wetlands in Oristano, Sardinia (Italy). Photo: © UICN-Med

In addition to the four pilot cases, other two initiatives, one to improve scientific knowledge and restore saltpans in Portugal, Spain and Turkey, and another to disseminate information on wetlands in Mediterranean islands, are completing an ambitious initiative implemented by 15 organisations with the support of the MAVA Foundation. In fact, this press trip event was also prepared in order to provide information about this MAVA initiative on wetlands in the region.

The event was organised by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (UICN-Med) in collaboration with the MEDSEA Foundation and MedWet, and with support from Efeverde. It is an activity promoted as part of the MedGreenPlatform initiative built on the cooperation of environmental journalists from the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN) and several international organisations working in this region, such as the IUCN-Med, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), MedWet, WWF Mediterranean and UNEP/MAP.

More information:

• Download the Media Kit: wetlands and climate change
• Download the media trip programme
• See the Photo Album of the trip

Contact:

Lourdes Lázaro, from UICN-Med
lourdes.lazaro@iucn.org

Chantal Menard, coordinator of the “Off Your Map” campaign
menard@medwet.org