The Mediterranean Consortium for Biodiversity — an alliance of international organizations to protect nature

The Mediterranean basin is one of the richest regions in the world in terms of biodiversity, but it is also under pressure due to pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, overconsumption of water and natural resources, etc.

 

Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, Croatia. Photo: © Boris Krstinic

 

To face these challenges and to protect biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin more effectively, a number of conservation organizations have joined forces, namely the Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet), the Mediterranean Protected Areas Network (MedPan), the Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative (PIM), Tour du Valat, the International Association for Mediterranean Forests (AIFM), and the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med).

 

 

With the support of the Conservatoire du Littoral

 

 

Accompanied by the Conservatoire du Littoral in this process, these organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday 12 March 2021 to officially launch the “Mediterranean Consortium for Biodiversity”. On the same day, a press conference was held with about twenty journalists. The Press Release is available here.

 

© PIM

 

Fabrice Bernard, from the Conservatoire du littoral, emphasized the support of his institution for the approach of these organizations, all of which have a common history of effective nature conservation. Describing it as “an unprecedented approach”, he said that these actors propose to strengthen their links in order to respond in a coordinated manner to the challenges of biodiversity conservation 

“We felt the need to change our approach and move from a sectorial vision to a cooperation between actors who take care of different biomes (forests, coasts, seagrass beds, wetlands, etc)”, said Alessio Satta, MedWet Coordinator

From his side, Antonio Troya, Director de IUCN-Med, noted the intrinsic diversity of themes, expertise and work experience in the Mediterranean basin that characterize this new consortium. He emphasized that it is a question of uniting the efforts of these diverse groups, seeking complementarities and pooling their resources.