- Lead organisation: IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation.
- Other partners: UNEP-MAP, RAC/SPA, WWF MedPO, MedWet, ACCOBAMS. MAVA Foundation is the main donor of the project.
- Brief description: The primary aim of this project to gather, produce, synthesize and communicate information on the marine environment (species, features, resources and threats) and to identify conservation priority sites in the Mediterranean Sea. Integrated management of marine resources and coastal wetlands will be an important component of the project. Ultimately, it will provide focused scientific information to help policy makers, managers and practitioners when planning and prioritising their conservation and management actions. Funding to be provided by the MAVA and TOTAL Foundations.
- Time schedule: 2011-2015.
- Current status: Presently, NEREUS is implemented jointly between IUCN Mediterranean, MedWet, ACCOBAMS, RAC/SPA and MedPAN. Specific activities are decided between the partners and implemented at the regional level or country level.
The specific objectives of the project are the following:
1. Analyze the legal and institutional frameworks for MPA establishment and management in each country (Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Albania);
2. Understand institutional relationships in managing MPAs in each of the eastern Adriatic countries;
3. Provide strategic orientations for stakeholder participation in MPA management and planning with a view to improving good governance of MPAs.
Activities held in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro:
• Preparation of a Mindmap that lists and describes the Administrations, Entities working on protected areas, in monitoring projects or that are collecting indicators (completion 90%);
• Preparation of XL files listing the Environmental National Laws, Regulations and Decisions related to the marine and coastal environment, protected areas, monitoring, indicators and integrated coastal zone management;
• Update of the reports, strategies and projects related to environmental protection (coastal and marine), protected areas, monitoring, indicators and integrated coastal zone management.
• Collection of the most important legal documents in electronic format and extraction of relevant articles and phrases from the ones that are translated in English.
Information on NEREUS on the IUCN-Med website